According to the Women
by hardly loquacious
Summary: A story chronicling Lisbon and Van Pelt's reactions to Jane and each other. Starts with the pilot, will eventually go beyond the aired episodes. Eventually Jane/Lisbon, maybe a bit of Rigsby/Van Pelt.
1. Van Pelt Meets Jane

Author's note: Alright, so I thought I'd try a multi-chapter fic for a change. It's going to be told entirely from Van Pelt and Lisbon's POVs (at least that's the current plan, it may change) because I thought the two female perspectives would be interesting. The POVs are going to switch around in no particular order starting from the Pilot and going beyond the series, not sure how far beyond right now. This is definitely not going to be some competition between the women over who gets Jane, but it will be about how the interact with him and each other. It will probably become Jane/Lisbon in the end (because I love them), and I _might _also do some Rigsby/Van Pelt. We'll see how it goes.

Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own these characters, because I love them.

Chapter 1: Van Pelt meets Jane

I'm definitely not having one of my best days. I started with the serious crimes unit of the CBI about a week ago and I've been settling in ever since, which has been harder than I expected. I mean, it's not like I thought it would be _easy_. I knew there would be millions of things that I wouldn't know. I've done police work before sure, but every unit has its quirks and its own particular way of doing things that I'd have to learn. I also knew that I'd be the new kid, the rookie, the one that got dealt the worst jobs and the most mockery. But… I guess I just thought it would be easier than this. How was I supposed to know that you don't check luggage when you have to fly somewhere? No one mentioned anything. I felt like such an idiot earlier today at the airport. I wish Rigsby or Cho had given me a heads up. You'd think they'd remember from when they were rookies. I should start a list. A list of things _not _to do. I can pass it on to the next new addition to the team, assuming I last that long of course.

And now I'm here all by myself, setting up desks and finding lights and computer access while they all get to go to the crime scene and do all the interesting stuff. I know that I sound like a petulant child, and it's not like I particularly _enjoy_ crime scenes, (since they usually contain dead bodies) but at least I'd feel like I was doing something useful. At least I'm comfortable with the technological side of things. I know I can have everything up and running before the rest of the team gets back.

The rest of the team. A bit of an odd mix really, if you think about it. There's Rigsby, who was the rookie before I got here. He seems like a nice enough guy. He's huge, not fat, just tall with broad shoulders. But he's not really intimidating, although I guess he might be if I was the one he was pointing a gun at. He's really just kind of goofy. Always eating. But he's been really friendly since I've got here, and he does seem to want to be helpful. Then there's Cho, who usually does a lot of the interrogations. He's, well, I don't know him very well and he's kind of hard to describe. He doesn't say much most of the time and everything he does say seems to be either in a deadpan or sarcastically in a deadpan, but he seems to be very smart and he definitely gets results in the interrogation room. Then there's Agent Lisbon, the boss. When I first interviewed for the job she was extremely professional, all business. I thought that she was almost unfriendly. Principled, fair and very competent, but still unfriendly. Now I'm not so sure. Even today it's not exactly easy for a woman to go as far as she has in the field. You're continually proving yourself. I know that, had to do it myself a couple of times. And after seeing her with the guys, I just don't know. I mean, she's still definitely in charge, but you can see the undercurrent of affection occasionally, when she lets herself relax just a bit. She mothers Rigsby and mocks suspects with Cho; I think there's probably more to her than it seems. I wonder if Rigsby would tell me anything… And that's everyone, just the four of us (yes, _us_, I am counting myself). Well, except for the consultant, Patrick Jane. Some sort of ex-psychic or something, but I haven't met him yet. Rigsby told me he can tell you amazing things about a person just by watching them. I'd like to meet him, but he's been suspended since I started… something about provoking a wife to shoot her husband because she suspected he'd murdered their daughter. I'm a bit hazy on the details. He apparently maintains that he did nothing wrong.

There, now everything's ready. It should be up to even Lisbon's standards. But maybe I should go over it again. I will make her glad she hired me, and I will get the hang of it here.

So much for one last check, here they come. I can hear Rigsby already.

"But boss, if it's not Red John…"

"We don't know that. Just because Jane said…" My ears perked up at that, I thought he was still on suspension.

"Jane's statements have a funny way of turning out to be true," Cho observed.

"Not all of them. Remember that time he was convinced the 78 year old grandmother had kidnapped her grand-daughter because he decided she was hiding something?"

"She was hiding something!"

"Yeah, that her new bridge partner was male, and she hadn't had a chance to tell her daughter about him yet! It was hardly a criminal offence!"

"She was still hiding something," said Rigsby. "Besides, this is Red John. If there's one thing that Jane knows, it's Red John."

"No, Jane is obsessed with Red John, and he thinks he knows him. We'll review the tapes of the earlier crime scenes and see if his observations hold water."

They were in the room now, "Van Pelt, can you call the Sacramento office and ask them to send us all the video of Red John's previous crime scenes that they have. I don't think we brought it all."

"Sure boss. Did something happen at the scene?"

"According to Jane the face was painted on the wrong wall so he thinks we're dealing with a copycat." She didn't look pleased about the fact, although I was unsure why a copycat was any worse than the real thing. After all, the victims were still dead.

"I thought Jane was on suspension?"

"He was."

Oh, now she really looked mad, so I decided not to ask. "Well, we have an extra desk anyways, so he can use that if he wants."

"He went back to Sacramento," Cho interrupted. "Said we didn't need him."

"Right." I said as I picked up the phone. Seems I wouldn't be meeting the great Patrick Jane today after all. Oh well. Maybe it was for the best given how irritated Lisbon still seemed to be.

"All right, they're sending me the videos now boss. I should have them downloaded in a couple of minutes."

Lisbon looked up, "Great. We might as well start with the ones we have here."

"I put them in the box under the TV."

"Put one on Risby. I guess we'd better see about Jane's theory. And nice job with the set-up Van Pelt."

I looked up, surprised. Nice job? Really? Did this mean I was forgiven for the earlier screw-up? "Thanks."

Rigsby put on the video and grabbed a chair next to me. "Here, I grabbed you a muffin when we stopped for coffee on the way back from the crime scene. You like banana right?"

"Yeah, thanks," I said with a smile. Maybe my initiation wouldn't be as bad as I'd thought.

xxxxx

Stopping the tape, Lisbon sighed as she acknowledged that Jane was probably right. I was confused as to why this was so obviously irritating to her, but figured I'd have to wait until I saw them together to see what was going on. She certainly didn't seem like the type to have an affair with someone on her team, and I knew that he had recently lost his wife, but it was clear there was something else going on there that I didn't know about. Rigsby and Cho certainly weren't acting like this was anything out of the ordinary, as they left the room. I followed shortly after, though my destination was the storage room and not the victim's house.

When I came back there was a stranger in the room. A stranger that Lisbon seemed to be pointedly ignoring. Well, whatever she was doing I couldn't very well let the poor man stand there indefinitely, "Can I help you?"

Oh. Wow. I definitely wasn't expecting… I mean… Wow. Wait a minute, _this_ is Patrick Jane? Okay. If Lisbon were anyone else I'd have to re-think my decision on whether or not they were sleeping together, because really, who could blame her? He's gorgeous, and charming and friendly and gorgeous. And she's finally acknowledged his presence, with her usual warm and winning personality.

Okay, maybe that was a bit unfair, I mean, he certainly didn't seem to be expecting anything else, and something is definitely going on, but still. Sadly I can't stand around all day and watch these two, or I'll lose all the points I so recently gained setting up the office. But I can't help smiling as I leave the room again; at least someone thinks I'm a positive addition to the team.

xxxxx

The nerve of that man! The absolute arrogance! He wants me to say please to get him back here? I'm technically in charge, and he's the one who wants to work with us most of the time. Earlier today he went over my head to get on this case! Well I'm certainly not begging _Patrick Jane_ to go come back, insight or no insight. He's arrogant enough as it is, and he'd never let me live it down.

What? He was right outside the room? I don't believe this. It's a good thing Van Pelt didn't put anything on this desk that could be used as a weapon. Why did I even call him? He probably knew I would, with that smug little smile of his. Oh and now Van Pelt's met him and he's laying on the charm, just like always. If there's a female within a ten-foot radius they seem to fall over themselves when he smiles like that. And she's falling for it, of course she is. Come to think of it, someone probably should have warned her. _I_ probably should have warned her; it's certainly not something Rigsby or Cho would have thought of. But how the hell do you start _that _particular conversation? "Hi Van Pelt, I thought we should have a chat about the consultant before you meet him. You see, he kind of oozes sex appeal." And Van Pelt's so naturally friendly. She wouldn't see the dark side, not on the first meeting anyways. Well, she'll learn soon enough I'm sure. So far she's been a pretty quick study, and it's tough to miss.

And now she's gone again and he's just sitting over there at his desk, smugly I bet, probably pretending to work. I wonder what it is that he does when we're not interrogating suspects. Well, I'm going to continue ignoring him to prevent myself from killing him. The guys better get back here soon. I'm starving.

TBC…


	2. The Team's First Meal

Author's note: Just a quick note, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I'm sorry about the delay between them, but first writers block and then life got in the way. Also, I won't be doing all of the episodes in this much detail, but I thought that the pilot was pretty important in that it's Van Pelt's first introduction to Jane. That said, some parts of this might be a bit hard to follow if you haven't seen the Pilot (although my opinion is clouded by the fact that I have seen the pilot so who knows…). I've tried to make it as self-explanatory as possible without typing out huge sections of dialogue. Alright, well, I hope you like it!

Chapter 2: The Team's first meal

I was dutifully doing research on my computer when Rigsby and Cho returned, discussing whether or not the victim's husband could be the killer. Cho seemed more convinced than Rigsby, who was on the fence and seemed more worried about when we'd be going to dinner.

"Jane and Lisbon decided to go interview Dr. Wagner at his office. See if he had anything interesting to offer."

This got their attention, "Wait, Jane's back?" Rigsby asked.

"Yeah, he said he changed his mind about leaving, nothing to do back home," I paused, "Lisbon didn't seem too happy to see him."

Cho smirked at that, "Yeah, well, sometimes Lisbon's bark is worse than her bite. She's probably still annoyed with him for the stunt he pulled a few weeks ago and then for going over her head today. She'll calm down. Don't worry about it."

Speak of the devil, here they were.

"Did you really expect him to just hand over a bottle of sleeping pills? Of course you need to go for an appointment."

"Hey, he did it for Allison Randolph, at least now we know he's has some medical standards." Interesting method of getting information, I wonder if he actually even has insomnia.

"And where would we be without that crucial information?" Addressing the rest of us for the first time Lisbon said, "Alright guys, I'm starving. We can touch base over dinner. Any thoughts?"

"I saw a good looking seafood restaurant on the way in," Rigsby suggested.

"Alright, is that okay with everyone?" Deciding to take our silence as agreement she added "Okay great, come on."

xxxxx

This place is actually pretty good. Service is good, food's decent, nice atmosphere, although I'm still not sure how I feel about seeing a lobster that I might be eating later… While we waited for our food everyone shared their information. Other than Cho, who still thinks the husband did it, we don't seem to be any closer to figuring out who's responsible for these two deaths. Although, I have to admit that right now I'm more interested in listening to our consultant than in catching a murderer, although I suppose one could lead to the other.

I mean, how does he do it? How does he _know?_ Now that he's explained why the husband is unlikely to be guilty it makes perfect sense. Lisbon seems skeptical, but I can't help believing him. Wait, now what is he doing? Oh, of course, a simple trick. I wonder how often he uses tricks, and how often he gets caught… "Mr. Jane, I have a question, regarding your previous career path?"

"Fire away."

"When you met with other psychics, real psychics, could they tell you were just pretending?"

Wow, he's definitely got strong opinions on the subject. I can respect his opinion, even if I disagree. It's sweet of Rigsby to back me up, but unnecessary. I know what I saw, and it was real. I spoke to my grandmother. There were things that no one else could have possibly known, no one but her. And okay, seriously, how could it possibly be obvious that my father was a football coach? Why would you say something like that to a person and then not explain it? That just seems unnecessarily arrogant. And oh…, poor man, he's lost his faith, if he ever had any to begin with. I guess that explains some of his attitude. My faith would certainly be tested if I'd had to endure anything like what he's had to, but you'd think he'd be a little more tolerant of other people's opinions. Because, as sure as he is that there is no God, I'm at least equally sure that there is, and he won't change my mind. "The kingdom of God is a real place."

Well, that was totally inappropriate. What kind of man calmly talks about another man's technique in bed over dinner, among colleauges. At least Rigsby was as surprised by it as I was, although he certainly hasn't denied his intentions, not that it would do any good. I'd almost feel sorry for him, but I'm trying not to show my own mortification and anger. How dare he! He basically attacked my beliefs after I asked him a simple question and I calmly disagree and instead of just letting it go he makes a comment like that. I'm trying to win respect here and that absolutely did not help. I wonder what Lisbon thinks? I really wish I was psychic. Although, at least she seems to be used to his antics, unfortunately she doesn't seem to be annoyed with him. In fact, she seems more amused than anything now. Cho is impassive, and Rigsby and I are just uncomfortable while Jane has an innocent look on his face like what he just said is totally normal dinner conversation. I could just kill him, and he probably knows it.

xxxxx

I'd forgotten how much I enjoy team brainstorming sessions over a meal. Not only are they helpful in solving the case, but I always get over my annoyance with Jane faster on a full stomach. Plus they're a good way to learn about your team. Obviously I can't tell you a person's shoe size and favourite subject in the third grade based on what appetizer they ordered like Jane probably can, but I like to think I do all right reading my people. Jane and Cho are easy enough, I've certainly known them long enough, tonight I'm more interested in Van Pelt's reactions; I'm curious to see how she'll deal with Jane. She's still at the stage where she's in awe of his abilities without seeing the troubled man behind them.

Oh here we go, the psychic question. Well, she gets right to the point, I've got to give her that. Unfortunately asking Jane about psychics is a surefire to make him defensive and then arrogant. The way he dismisses her opinions so matter-of-factly almost makes me laugh, but I restrain myself. Unlike Van Pelt I know exactly why he has to believe that real psychics don't exist. Much funnier is Rigsby's whole-hearted support of anything she says. Could he be more obvious? I'll have to keep an eye on that, it could spell trouble down the road.

Poor Van Pelt. That was a bit un-called for, even if the glare Rigsby's sending across the table is pretty funny. I'd step in, but if she's going to make it on this unit, and it seems like she's definitely got the skill for it, then she needs to learn how to deal with Jane. Trying to convince him of God's existence is certainly a trial by fire. I'd have recommended starting with something small, like trying to convince him to switch from cream to milk in his coffee for health reasons. With Jane you've got to pick your battles. Sadly even then you won't win many, and if you do you're left with the uncomfortable thought that he's humouring you. You've got to admire her conviction though. Sometimes I wish I could be that sure of something. I was raised Catholic, and most of the time I believe, but with some of the things we see it's hard sometimes.

Well this is awkward. Time to bring the conversation back to the case at hand, "Alright Jane, if it wasn't the husband who _do_ you think it was?"

xxxxx

Well, the good news is that we solved the case I guess. Of course, we uncovered a lot of skeletons in a lot of closets, most of which turned out to be completely unnecessary and irrelevant. We get to pack up and return to our lives, but those brothers, their relationship will always be different because of what we did, and with no reason. And Jane knew it, he knew we didn't need to. But the worst part is that Jane seemed to _enjoy_ it, even though he had a gun pointed at him. The whole thing just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I mean, his methods apparently result in a lot of closed cases, but does that give him license to do whatever the hell he wants with absolutely no regard for any long term consequences. I got into this to keep people safe and catch criminals, not to play with the victims. And it was just yesterday that I was confused about Lisbon's attitude. She must have the patience of a saint. If he does this all the time I don't know how she hasn't killed him by now. How is he able to do this? Is his record that good? I can see him getting away with it for a while, he's so charming. Hey, I fell for it, boy did I, but in the long run? Even Rigsby and Cho don't seem too pleased.

Well, look who finally showed up. And he brought doughnuts. Seriously? But even he knows that I'm not the one he's got to pacify. Well, I wish him luck with the boss. As for me, I'll forgive him when everyone else does, but I won't forget this, not entirely, even if I fall for his smile again.

xxxxx

This case was exhausting, although part of that was because of the arrogant ex-psychic the department in their infinite wisdom has saddled me with. Later when I'm less angry I might acknowledge that Jane's help is valuable, but right now I'd enjoy nothing more than watching Rigsby and Cho run over him in one of the SUVs. After this case I can't even summon up the energy to do it myself, but I'm sure the guys would have no problems doing one last thing for me. After the last couple of days Van Pelt looks like she might even be willing to help. When I was wondering how she was going to fit in with the rest of the team I admit that I didn't anticipate bonding over a mutual annoyance with Jane's methods. I wish that Jane's shenanigans were the worst she'll have to deal with working here, unfortunately he's just the beginning.

Well, look who it is, trying to pretend this is just like any other case when he must know (probably better than most given his abilities) that he went too far this time. As if solving the case is all that matters. What good is that if instead of catching a criminal and hopefully giving the family of the victim some sort of closure, we open up a whole new set of wounds? We've improved public safety, but at what cost?

Time to fall back on my default method of dealing with him when he's done something I don't agree with: ignoring him. All interpersonal interaction is a game to him and nothing bothers him quite so much as no reaction. I admit it's tough, not reacting to his childishness, his arrogance or his natural charm. It's not often that I succeed, but it's the only thing I can do that has any effect whatsoever. Oh here we go. At least he _looks_ sheepish and even a bit contrite, not about what he's done of course, but that we're mad at him.

Actually I'm surprised he apologized at all, even if I know he didn't mean it. Does that count as growth or compromise? Sadly I don't think so; still ignoring him.

Damn. That frog actually is really cute. So much for not reacting to his natural charm…

TBC


	3. Red Hair and Silver Tape

Sorry again for the delay in updating. Sadly life got in the way. I'd love to say the next update will be quicker, but it probably won't be. Usual disclaimers apply, I own nothing.

Chapter 3 – Red hair and Silver Tape

It was early in the morning when I got the call. I'd just arrived at the office anticipating a quiet day (always the first mistake), and had barely settled in with my coffee. Seemed there'd been a murder up in Napa and the local sheriff wanted some assistance. Well, I was more than willing to help out, provided it was clear who was in charge. It's not a power thing, well not really. I've just had too much experience trying to share the lead, it always ends up in disaster. It's much better all around if everyone knows who's doing what, who's ultimately in control. And in the end, my team's the one with the experience with these types of cases. If they didn't need help they wouldn't have called us to begin.

Oh well, a case is (almost) always better than paperwork. At least Napa should be pretty this time of year. Better go rally the troops.

xxxxx

Turns out the crime scene is in a vineyard, not surprising considering where we are. She was young. I mean, I knew she was young, I'd been given a basic description of the scene, but it's always different when you actually see it. Impatient to see the body I was only half listening to the sheriff's description of how the body had been found. Poor girl.

Sheriff seems pretty convinced it wasn't a local. I can respect that. No one wants to believe that one of their neighbours is capable of this. Oh, but of course Jane thinks he's wrong, and that tat it was an accident. What, what?

"How so?" And please just answer the question. Don't give me some complicated demonstration of human psychology or play game; I'm not in the mood. It's too early in the morning and I'm kneeling over a dead body.

Okay, see that I can work with. That explanation makes sense. I still have to remind him to keep an open mind, but at least he hasn't, I don't know, decided we role-play to demonstrate his point. I can just see him trying to goad the sheriff into playing the wayward quail hunter. Why can't he always be that clear, that straightforward? It would make working with him a lot easier. Alright fine, it'd be a lot easier, but maybe a lot less fun too. When he's not being totally inappropriate that is.

Or when I'm not the target. I wonder how many rounds of rock-paper-scissors they'll have to play before the sheriff admits defeat. I figure I'll intervene if it moves past twenty.

xxxxx

After informing the family we found their daughter I called back to the office to get Van Pelt searching the databases. She's by far the fastest of us all on the computer system. Poor Rigsby wanted to join us, but I put a stop to it. This case doesn't need three agents in the field. Besides, I thought he'd be using the time to get to know his new co-worker.

Alright, the sheriff is starting to get on my nerves now. It just suddenly occurred to him that he was at the scene of the abduction? And it also didn't occur to him that maybe checking the woods would be a good idea? I'm trying not to patronize, but it's difficult. He can stay here and conduct the search. We're doing this interview alone.

xxxxx

Jane and the chef appear to be fast friends. I'll never know how he does it. And unlike him, I don't feel the need to eat food every time it's offered to us. I suppose that might have something to do with why anyone we interrogate always does seem to like him better. Not that I really care of course. Especially not in this case, the head chef appears to be unbelievably obnoxious. Doesn't seem to care at all that one of his waitresses was just found murdered outside of town.

At least now we know what time Melanie left exactly, and I should know soon exactly who was at that restaurant thanks to the credit card receipts. And there's always Raquel to talk to. I'm no mentalist, but I do know that she's hiding something. As soon as Jane started talking to her, and she denied being friends, his voice took on that overly innocent quality. It's devoid of all accusation, and you know that whatever he's going to say next is going to catch the other party in an obvious lie. I don't buy her lesbian crush theory for a second. She knows something, but she's clearly not going to tell us anything. I'm going to go see what else I can find out.

xxxxx

Why do I agree to this? Why do I let Jane have his way with his stupid games? Okay, I know why. They tend to yield useful information and they also tend to keep him occupied and amused. And that's a good thing. A bored Jane is a dangerous Jane. He starts messing with anyone and everyone around him to amuse himself. Far better when we've got a case keeping him distracted. I suspect he welcomes the distraction for himself as much as everyone around him welcomes his distraction for their own sakes.

Despite his success rate I can't help watching him warily out of the corner of my eye when he gets up on that box and addresses the crowd. The look on Cho's face when Jane identifies him as the bureau's handwriting expert almost makes me laugh. But apparently Jane was so convincing that the writer of our mystery note fainted. Somehow I just don't buy Randall as the killer though.

Yeah. I was right. This guy didn't do it. But he might be able to give us a more accurate idea of when she went missing. Add information to the timeline. That would be helpful.

xxxxx

Running the details of the case through databases, it was thrilling. And it seemed to me to be all that I got to do most of the time. I know why I guess, part of the learning experience. I've got to learn how things are done here before I can go out in the field and at least it allows me to help with the cases. It gets a bit old though when I'm stuck at the office while the rest of the team are out interviewing suspects. At least Rigsby is stuck here too, although I wish he'd find something to do and stop staring at me.

Database search is almost done. I've found two similar sounding cases. I'd better call the boss. Maybe now that this is done she'll want me to do something in the field. I can be optimistic right? Some of the details are pretty coincidental, the red hair, the tape… It's especially creepy given my own hair colour. At least I have some training that would help me ward off a sicko like this one, if these cases are even connected that is.

Jane seems pretty confident in the connection, Lisbon more skeptical. Sometimes I wonder if she just takes the opposite position of his to spite him. The way he explained it seemed pretty convincing to me, although I guess we have to examine all possible angles in every case. And they're now both so into their discussion I think they've forgotten me.

"Excuse me, I'm still here. What would you like me to do?"

Jane's all for following his conspiracy theory, but Lisbon wants to go the more sensible route, and when all's said and done, she's the one I'm going to be listening to, even if Jane's theory sounds more interesting.. So I'm doing more research. Well, I guess I was doing more research either way. Joy. I wonder how long until I get to do field work. Wonder how long it was for Rigsby… "Hey Rigsby!"

xxxxx

Ah, the uncooperative Raquel. I don't know what Jane thinks we're going to learn from her, but he was so insistent that she knows something I figured another round of questioning wouldn't hurt. Well that was easy, too easy. And now Jane isn't meeting my eyes… I'm going to kill him. Oh, he can't seriously think that telling me I'm right and he was wrong is going to distract me here?

"You hypnotized her didn't you?"

I don't know why he even bothers to deny it. I know he did it, and what's more, he knows I know. Wait a minute, Cho was in on this? Why am I surprised? As good an agent as he is, he always helps Jane with his schemes. It's annoying. Thing is, this is illegal, and he does it again and I'm going to have to take disciplinary action. We've know each other a while, and I respect him and his abilities. That's not something I want to do. This time I'll let him off with a verbal reprimand, but that's not something I can keep doing if I want to keep my job. Eventually Jane's going to get caught in such a way that nothing gets him out of it, and then I'm going to have to do my best to protect the rest of my team, although they certainly make it difficult.

xxxxx

Oh, looks like I'm losing my research companion. The boss's just called Rigsby away. He looks thrilled to be leaving. Oh, he's paused. I'm going with? Really? Cool. And I thought it'd be months before I was in the field. I mean, I'm sure I won't be playing a crucial role in the arrest or anything, but still. This is a good sign right? Lisbon must not think I'm totally incompetent or I'd still be at my desk.

"So who's the warrant for?" I ask Rigsby once we're in the car. There was no time to ask before and Lisbon certainly doesn't like to be kept waiting.

"Hector Romerez. Apparently some sort of gang leader in town, major drug dealer, lots of small time crime and apparently our victim's boyfriend."

"Melanie was dating a drug dealer?"

"Apparently. Obviously her parents didn't know. I guess you never can tell who someone's going to be attracted to."

I didn't really know what to say to that, so we were mainly silent for the rest of the ride to Hector's house. Outside I took my position with the other agents as we slowly closed in.

Clearly this guy's into some pretty serious stuff. He threw himself out of his window when he heard us. We all ran after him, but we were pretty far behind. Except for Lisbon that is. Somehow she came barreling out of nowhere and knocked him to the ground. I have no idea how she even knew where he was going. I heard she was good. She heads the serious crimes unit, she had to be, and there are still rumours floating around the department about her record for catching suspects. Some of the agents don't seem to believe it, I guess because she's so petite, but those who've worked with her before just shake their heads and say that she's very good at what she does. I'd never really seen her in action before now.

Hector certainly doesn't look pleased. Jane, on the other hand is just standing in the middle of the street smiling. Why exactly is he even here? What could he possibly do at an arrest? And what cause does he have to look so smug? That was all Lisbon, who is currently thanking the sheriff's department for their help.

Rigsby and Cho on the other hand, are praising our boss, and mocking Jane, who claims that he somehow knew Lisbon would come barreling out of nowhere and body-check a large man with a knife. Right. And now Rigsby and I have been dismissed to do paperwork. Excellent.

Still, Lisbon's flying tackle was impressive. From what I've gathered the sheriff's department was impressed, and Rigsby and Cho certainly thought so. Working with Jane she lets a lot slide when she needs to, but she's also comfortable kicking ass. So I don't know that I necessarily covet her personality, but in a way, after today, I kinda want to be Theresa Lisbon.

xxxxx

I was surprised when Jane called to tell me that Lisbon had changed her mind, and that she wanted me to research his serial killer angle. She seemed pretty convinced that Hector was the killer, and the evidence against him was pretty solid. But whatever, that's not my call. I just do what the boss tells me. Although I've got to admit, some of these connections seem pretty thin. It was more convincing when Jane was explaining it.

And there's my phone, probably the boss calling to check in.

"Van Pelt, get Rigsby. I need to talk to both of you. I have a plan to catch the killer, but I need your help. Ready for a break from the research?"

With some trepidation I told Rigsby to get on the line. Something wasn't quite right, why hadn't Lisbon called us to tell about this?

When Rigsby picked up his extension Jane explained his plan. Someone at the restaurant had clearly grabbed Melanie, and was eventually going to find someone else. All we needed was the right kind of bait. Oh, I did not like where this was going…

Rigsby spoke up, "What does the boss think?" After a slight pause he continued, "She doesn't know does she?"

"Well, no." Jane admitted easily. "She's still convinced Hector's the killer, and he could be, but I don't think he is. So I thought if we set up a fake date between you two…" I couldn't help glancing at Rigsby quickly, only to find that he'd glanced at me, and now we were both trying not to look at each other as Jane continued. "If I'm right, the killer will go after you, and bring you to their hotel room, where Lisbon and I will be waiting. We'll catch him in the act and save any future victims. If I'm wrong, well, no harm done. We've all just wasted a couple hours of our time."

"I don't know about this," I said. Lisbon was going to be very angry when she found out. Even Rigsby looked a little nervous, and he tends to go along with Jane's ideas.

"Oh come on, I take full responsibility if this goes wrong. Besides Van Pelt, you were the one that read those files, you know that there's something that doesn't quite smell right. If we're wrong about Hector then there's still a violent criminal out there. It'll be fun, unless you two would rather go back to paperwork?"

I glanced up at Rigsby, who had an eager grin on his face. Oh, this was such a bad idea…

xxxxxx

So substantial traces of Melanie's blood were found in Hector's truck. That certainly doesn't make him look innocent, and it makes me happy because we're one step closer to finding our killer.

Huh, Jane's back. And he apparently has something to show me. Something that he thinks might make me mad. I would be worried, but since it looks like we've got our guy I can't work up too much alarm.

Jane of course believes the thug. That's a surprise. He's still so sure of his serial killer in the making theory. Alright, well I guess I've got nothing to lose seeing what he wants to show me.

"Hi. I made a booking for two for this afternoon, could you put us on the terrace it's more romantic. Thanks."

What? Booking for two? Terrace? _Romantic?_ What is Jane up to? If he thinks I'm going on some sort of a weird date with him to prove a point… because there's no way that he's asking me out for real… no way. This is just, insane.

"Don't fret, I wouldn't try to seduce you over a meal. That would be very sophomoric."

"I didn't think you were trying to seduce me." Although now I'm curious about how you'd go about it so that it wouldn't be sophomoric. Great, just great.

"Come on, how could that thought not have entered your head? Your denial that it did intrigues me."

Right Jane, because you never have a hidden meaning behind the things you say and do, so it's completely ridiculous that what would appear to be some sort of seduction from anyone else, from you would in fact be something else entirely. Especially since we're in the middle of a case, and as far as I can tell you've shown absolutely no romantic interest in me, or anyone else for that matter, since your wife died. So you know what Jane, "Bite me."

xxxxxx

The entire ride over Jane was irritatingly cryptic and refused to tell me where we were going. He kept telling me to be patient, with that smug little smile of his. Ironic considering he's one of the least patient people I know. I was somewhat surprised when we pulled up in front of a motel not too far from the restaurant. But with Jane you never knew what to expect.

I'm a bit surprised to see Van Pelt on the television screen. What has he done now? And how much trouble is this going to cause? But I can't help but sit down next to him when he pats the couch beside him. He looks so pleased with himself, like he's just come up with a brilliant idea that will solve the case, and tie up all the loose ends. And when Jane gets that eager look on his face I usually can't help but give in. After all, he usually has the best of intentions; he's trying to catch the bad guy. And I'll grudgingly admit that his methods can be effective. I just wish he didn't leave me in the dark feeling ineffectual and silly. He seems to relish his role as puppet-master, pulling everybody's strings. Well, he doesn't have complete control of mine yet.

Wait, he's somehow gotten _my entire team_ to set up video surveillance on the restaurant as part of an undercover operation? These things take time to plan! You don't just rush headlong into them because you have a hunch! You need to get back-up, have contingency plans, this could go so very horribly wrong if for no other reason than that Rigsby apparently can't act his way out of a paper bag! I'm going to kill Jane. This plan hinges on way to many uncertainties, and requires everything to play out exactly as Jane says it will. Even if this is the killer's room, and those supplies in the cupboard are fairly suggestive, there are better ways to go about this. They don't' involve as much theatre, so of course Jane wouldn't have thought of them.

But I can't see the harm, so I kick back and relax on the couch next to Jane. If his plan works we catch the killer, if it doesn't, I get to say "I told you so." I'm not sure which outcome I'd prefer.

xxxxxx

I'm nervous. Really nervous. And not just because we've basically set an entire plan in motion without Lisbon's knowledge. She'll be mad, but I don't think she'll actually do anything. The guys are right, her bark is much worse than her bite. But I'm supposed to pretend to be on a date with Rigsby and then act as bait for a serial killer. I know being a field agent is dangerous, but, well, I wasn't prepared to be an engineered target when I woke up this morning. Maybe if I'd had a bit more warning...

At least lunch with Rigsby isn't that bad. We've got a fair bit in common and he's a nice guy. Not the most convincing actor in the world though. Hopefully it's good enough for the killer.

Alright, here we go. Walking down a road by myself, in the middle of the day. This shouldn't be sinister, but it is. And trying to act natural when you're expecting an abductor, not the easiest thing in the world.

The sheriff just scared me half to death! What is he doing here? The killer's not going to grab me if I'm walking with the local law enforcement official. He could ruin everything. What do I do? Why won't he leave? Wait, what is he doing here? Shouldn't he be working, it's the middle of the day? He's making me really uncomfortable with all of his questions, and insisting that he drive me somewhere. What if…

"Get your hands off of her!" Well that solves the problem of what to do. No way the killer comes now, not when Rigsby's jumped in. I'm a bit relieved, the sheriff was pretty creepy, but come to think of it, he probably was just patrolling the area to make sure that no other women were abducted. So now we've antagonized local law enforcement. Lisbon is so going to kill us.

At least since she's been watching us this whole time so I don't have to tell her.

xxxxxx

Too much butter. This whole cockamamie plan was based on a chef using too much butter. How am I going to explain that do Minelli? Especially since a lot of butter tends to make food taste much better, even if it's not good for you. I need some sort of system. Some way of punishing Jane for every time he jumps into something without thinking. Of course for that system to work I'd need some way of actually punishing him. I suppose I could take away his couch, but given how little sleep he seems to get, that just seems cruel. The only other thing he seems to enjoy is messing with people. I wonder if there's any way I can legally put him in some sort of solitary confinement… Okay, that's kind of funny, I'm sitting in my car trying to think of legal ways of giving Jane a time out.

And what sort of consequences should there be for my so-called team? They just went along with Jane's plan without even checking with me. I suppose Van Pelt can be forgiven, especially if Jane convinced the boys. But they should know better, they've been around long enough that they shouldn't be falling for it any more. Or maybe they're not falling for it. Rigsby like's Jane and would see the benefits of the scheme, and Cho, Cho's might just go along for the fun of it. He and Jane do seem to have some sort unspoken understanding. When exactly did I lose control of my people?

Hey, why is the Shand Creek Winery truck here? Didn't it pass Van Pelt on her 'walk'? Where is Jane? He hasn't left the room yet. And now he's calling me. Oh crap. Stupid Jane with his stupid schemes! He's in serious danger. They'll kill him when they realize he's there. That door had better not be locked.

"Don't you point that at Jane!" No one points a weapon at a member of my team. Not even Jane when I'm irritated with him.

I just killed two people. Sure they were criminals who threatened my life, and my colleague's, not to mention killed at least one person and were going to again. Oh god, that poor girl. I'll deal with the bodies in a minute. First I've got to make sure she's all right. I'll deal with Jane later.

xxxxxx

I can't believe this happened. We were right there and we missed it. We set the trap and they took someone else as bait. I was nervous about being attacked myself. Turns out that someone else being attacked is ten times worse. And Jane almost got killed. When I saw him at the office later he still looked pretty shook up.

"Hey. How's it going? You alright?" He smiled, but it didn't meet his eyes.

"I'm fine. Lisbon saved the day."

"She seems to be good at that." If you consider 'saving the day' rushing in and shooting two people at close range that is. I know that they were criminals, and all, but I can't imagine what Lisbon is going through right now.

"Yeah, yeah she is." Jane said softly, but he wasn't looking at me anymore. He was looking past me, at Lisbon's walking down the hall into her office after meeting with Minelli. She looked upset, but I think maybe Jane looked worse. He had that look on his face, the one he gets when he's analyzing a person. But this time it was different. He looked guilty, and sorry. Interesting. Even if they're not dating there is something between those two, something intangible, and very fragile.

"Well, if there's anything I can do…" I replied, trailing off. Jane looked at me and seemed to clear his head. He gave me a small smile.

"I know where to find you." I smiled back and walked away. But I turned slightly in the doorway. The smile was gone, and he was back to contemplating Lisbon's closed office door.

Very interesting.

xxxxxx

I can hear the team beside me. Van Pelt doesn't understand how two people could do such a thing. If she continues in this line of work she'll learn soon enough. Jane of course understands, or pretends to anyways, to add credence his position as an all-knowing interpreter of human behaviour. But even I can't be angry at Jane. It's not his fault, not really anyways. Sure, if it hadn't been for him that woman might not have been grabbed that day, but someone would have been, some day, and we might not have been there. I might not have been there. There to shoot them.

Because when it's all said and done, I killed two people. Regardless of who they were, what they did, whether or not they deserved it, I killed them. I was the one that pulled the trigger. I've done it before, and sadly I'm sure that I'll do it again, but I wish I didn't' have to. No matter how justified, taking a life is never easy. And it's my job. And no matter how much I want to blame Jane for putting me there, in the end it's my responsibility. My team, my job, my gun. I'll protect them and the public. It's what I do. And in the end, it's why I do it.

Not that that helps Melanie's family. They look devastated. Does the death of their daughter's killer give them closure? Even a nod from the mother doesn't make me feel any better. I know as well as she does that nothing I do will bring their daughter back.

At least Jane knows enough not to say anything. I guess his pseudo-psychic abilities come in handy some of the time. I know he feels badly about what happened, not that the chef and his wife are dead, but that I had to kill them like that. If he could change things or make me feel better he would, but he knows that in the end there's nothing he can do or say. And even though I know he'll probably pull something like this next case, I still appreciate the silent support. So when he puts a hand on my shoulder as we leave the cemetery I let him keep it there, for my own comfort as well as his.

xxxxxx

TBC


	4. Red Tide

Author's note: Again, sorry for the delay. Life got in the way, and I wanted to do this chapter well because of the scene between Van Pelt and Lisbon. Although, I've got to say, Van Pelt's not in a lot of these early episodes that much. I never really noticed until now. And thanks to everyone who reviewed previous chapters. I'm glad you like the story!

Chapter 4: Red Tide

A dead teenager hit with a surfboard, but killed in a ditch. Lovely. Guess I'd better rally the troops. What on earth… "Alright, what are you doing?"

"Grace is mentally telling me where she hid the van keys. If I find them, I get to drive."

"So now you're psychic?" And I'm riding in the other car. I don't know if I should be encouraging this. I mean, sure it seems harmless enough, and it's a nice way to bring a bit of levity to a murder investigation. Van Pelt doesn't seem to mind, she looks almost excited, Rigsby loves it. Cho's a skeptic. I'm trying not to react; I don't want to give Jane the satisfaction. Still, I'm not sure I should be humouring Jane as much as I do. Give him an inch, he takes a mile. And he found the keys. He looks so pleased with himself that I haven't got it in me to completely hide my amusement and scold them for wasting time. Because unfortunately for Christine Tanner we have more important things to do then watch Jane do tricks.

xxxxx

I decided to take Van Pelt with me to talk to the father. Although Cho's good at interrogations and she could learn a few things from him, his technique when talking to victim's families is… _unique_, and certainly wouldn't work for most people. I'd rather Van Pelt get exposed to a more balanced questioning style, and the less Jane teaches her the better.

"Mr. Tanner we might have to ask you some tough questions, so…" I gesture to the kids hoping he'll get the picture. They do not need to hear this.

"That's okay, can't tell Lisa nothin' she hasn't heard before and Michael, he don't give a damn, he's slow. He's just sad because he sees Lisa is."

Lovely. "All the same." While Mr. Tanner finally concedes and gets his kids to leave the room I notice the open alcohol all over the place. Oh no, not this. I do not need this.

"So when did you notice Christine was missing?"

"Yesterday morning. She hadn't made nothing for the kids and I realized I hadn't seen her in a while. She may be away one night and I wouldn't know, but you know…"

I tried to keep the judgement out of my voice, "When was the last time you saw her?"

"Monday morning."

Van Pelt jumped in, "Any idea where she was during that time period?"

"No, Chrissy's real independent. Never had to worry about Chris."

"So two days to notice that your daughter is gone and another to report it?"

"I work, I work construction. I never miss a day; I can't watch her all the time."

"Her mother's not around?"

"She died, she's killed, in a car wreck."

Oh god. I barely heard Van Pelt's attempt to comfort the man. She took care of her younger brother and sister after her mother died in a car crash while her father fell apart on them. Focus on the conversation Lisbon.

"Almost five years ago now, drunk driver t-boned her. College kid, walked away laughing, not a scratch."

A drunk driver. Had to be a drunk driver. And now those kids have lost a second mother figure. And he just expects daughter number two to pick up the slack. She barely looks ten and she's holding it together better than he is. I got into this business because I wanted to help families, but I don't know if there's anything I can do here. He's falling apart and he's going to drag them down with him. You'd think that his surviving children would be enough of a reason for him to pull it together, but it sure doesn't look like it. Just like when my… Okay, I've got to pull it together. Now. Come on Lisbon, what was he saying? What were you going to ask?

"So, Christine kind of took over for her Mom huh? Cooked, cleaned, looked after the little ones?"

Thank goodness Van Pelt's here. Who know how long that pause might have been otherwise. Okay Lisbon, focus. Focus on the job. You can do this. There's a reason they let you run your own team. This is what you do. Your personal life has no place in the workplace, you know that.

Those poor kids.

"Christine was arrested last year?" I need to get out of here.

xxxxx

"So, Christine kind of took over for her Mom huh? Cooked, cleaned, looked after the little ones?"

The boss looks pretty shaken up. She spaced right out there. That must be rough, bring back bad memories. I can't imagine having to take care of my younger brothers if my mother had died. I wonder how old she was. I hope she's not mad that I just jumped in there, especially when I'm still supposed to be basically observing, but Lisbon was taking a bit too long to say anything. I hope she's alright. How do you comfort a woman like that?

"Christine was arrested last year?"

Well, at least she looks like she's following the conversation again. Maybe I can just ignore what happened. Pretend I didn't notice. I certainly don't want to pry.

Okay, now that I can't ignore. That looked like it hurt. "Are you okay?"

When she didn't answer I pressed on, "It's gotta must be tough."

"What?" Oh yeah, that innocent tone in your voice sure makes you sound fine. You just fell off a porch! It wasn't like it was a stumble or a slight trip. You dropped everything and went down.

"Drunk driver, isn't that what happened to your mother?" Oh, she doesn't look pleased. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. "Sorry, it's not my business." I can't believe I did that. Rigsby and Cho told me she never talks about her personal life. Never. And they don't ask.

"We don't discuss our personal lives in this unit. It's not useful and it's not professional."

We don't talk about our personal lives, or _you_ don't talk about your personal life? That seems like a pretty strict rule, and I'm not sure it's always followed, but I know when to back down. At least I offered. And with that she picks up her phone and I'm dismissed.

"Cho, names to check." Lisbon clearly wants to forget the whole thing, so why do I feel like I've been punched in the stomach? The ride back's going to be awkward. I hope that phone call lasts a long time.

xxxxx

I cannot believe that I fell down the stairs of that porch. How did I let myself get that distracted? Why did it have to be a drunk driver and a self-pitying father? As glad as I was that Van Pelt was there inside I wish she were a million miles away right now. I'm certainly not going to talk about my private life and my insecurities with my team. They need me to be professional and in control. Now Van Pelt looks uncomfortable and awkward, but also concerned. She keeps shooting me sidelong glances from the passenger seat of the car. I know she means well, but more than anything else I want to be alone. Need to be alone. Just ten minutes by myself to pull it together. That's all I need. Then I can pretend this is any other case like my team needs me to. Like I need to. Falling apart in public is not an option.

Why did someone have to tell her about my mother? I don't want the scrutiny. Oh God, how much does Jane know?

xxxxx

I decided to take Rigsby to visit Flipper. Told myself it was because Van Pelt was the fastest on the computer, and besides if the man's been arrested for assault, who knows what might happen at that trailer, but really it was because Rigsby is the least likely to pry. Cho wouldn't say anything, but he knows me too well and he'd look it. Rigsby kept me distracted with his endless search for food.

And breaking into a trailer will give me something to do.

Flipper sure doesn't seem surprised to see us. Okay, what is Jane doing here?

xxxxx

Glaring across from the victim while Jane yawned, I quickly became the focus of attention.

"I guess you must be bad cop."

"I try." And I have no patience for men who beat women so badly that they need to go to the hospital. I'm already having a bad day, so don't cross me buddy.

Okay, this guy, a little creepy. He beats up his girlfriend for pouring oil into a storm drain and hangs out with children until they become old enough to sleep with. Yeah, you're all about what's right buddy. "When was the last time you saw her?" I can't keep the disgust off of my face and it must show, because Jane jumps in,

"You're exactly the kind of person who does terrible things to women."

Damn strait he is. "But I don't think you did this." What? Why must Jane do this to me every time we have a viable suspect? Unfortunately he's right, I don't think Flipper's guilty, creep as all hell, but probably not a murderer.

Oh God, what is Mr. Tanner doing here? With his children? As I assure him that he'll be the first person to know in case of an arrest I can't help but glance at those kids. What kind a future do they have to look forward to now?

Unfortunately Rigsby chooses that moment to release Flipper. And I'm the one who has to throw a distraught and, let's face it, probably drunk father into a wall while his kids look on.

At least I have some practice getting people to obey me. "Look at me. Look at me. You need to go home."

"Let's go home Daddy." And now I get to watch as another family gets torn apart, while another young girl has to pull everything together. I hate this case.

And Van Pelt saw the whole thing. Damn.

xxxxx

I really wish I hadn't seen that. God her face. She shouldn't have to be the one to do that, but she won't let anybody else step in. And I can't say anything, not after what happened this morning. I should have thought to tell Rigsby to keep Flipper in the interrogation room away from the family, or someone should have been out there with her. Like Cho. He knows her better than I do, and he wouldn't say anything, but at least she wouldn't have been alone.

I need to get a lead on this case. Because right now that's all I can do.

xxxxx

Oh goody, a contractor who cares more about finishing on time than that his construction site might be a crime scene. Excellent, just what I need. Well, I'm definitely not putting up with this crap. Night guard quit Monday. That's a little suspicious. Mr. Efficiency doesn't see it that way though.

"Lisbon, come take a look at this?"

"What?" I ask, before I see it myself. Well that's lovely. "Mr. Rayburn?" Mr. Efficiency's sure not going to like that there's a body stuck in his cement.

Oh, and here's the arrogant owner. This case just keeps getting better and better. Gotta love a man who's most worried about how it will set back his development when a body is found at the site. At least Mr. Efficiency wasn't that callous, just a bit overworked I'd imagine.

And Jane doesn't like the guy. Shocker. So he's going to annoy him. Great. And I'll have to clean up the mess. Just what I need right now.

"Hey Pops."

And Curtick looked up. Well that's just great. Somebody just kill me now, because we have no proof, something Jane seems to have difficulty understanding.

"I hear you're good in bed, what's the secret?"

I am not here. I am somewhere else right now. Anywhere else. Jane is not winding up a suspect who's already bragged about how well connected he is. I'd stop this, but short of physically dragging Jane away...

And now Slimeball Curtick has punched my consultant in the face. Swell. Now I have to arrest him, and something tells me the local sheriff isn't going to be too happy about that, not to mention my boss. More of a mess for me to clean up.

xxxxxx

"He's not is he? He's not going to confess?"

"What you think he'd break under the bad lighting conditions?" Please tell me you didn't actually think that this would make Curtick confess. Because if that was your plan we're all screwed.

Wait, _cunning plan_? I don't like the sound of that. Anything that's ever described as a _cunning plan_ almost never works. "What cunning plan?" And answer me this time, don't just give me that stupid smile, I've got enough to deal with. You'd better explain yourself, and thoroughly, and it'd better work.

And here's Slimeball Curtick again. Ugh, he makes my skin crawl. He's worse than Flipper. Even Jane looks vaguely discomforted, but on my behalf, not his own. Great, someone else on my team is concerned now. Just what I need.

xxxxx

"So what do you think? Did it work?"

"I think: three, two one, now." The lack of anything happening is rather noticeable. "How cool would it have been if one of them had walked in right then huh?"

And there's Hope. I can't believe this. At least Jane looks a little surprised. Man this girl is a terrible liar.

Now here's Danny, who says that Hope's lying. And when I thought that it couldn't get any more convoluted here are Andy and Wynne. I'm less and less inclined to believe a word any of them are saying. I'll just let Jane sort it out.

xxxxx

I wish I could tell Mr. Tanner that the man who raped his daughter would go to prison, but I can't lie. Without Chris' testimony probably nothing will come of it, except that he might lose some of his standing in the community. There is one thing I can help him with though,

"You have good kids."

"Yeah, I do."

No, that's not what I mean. "You're all they have."

"Yeah, I know."

Do you? "Be good to them."

"I am good to them."

He looks shocked, and I wonder if I should even be interfering, but I got into this business to help people, and damn it that's what I'm going to do. I refuse to let another family fall apart like mine did. "My father was a good man, just like you are. And after my mother died he was a self-pitying drunk just like you are. He killed himself, damn near killed me and my brothers too. Get some help. Your kids deserve it, so do you." I can't look him in the eyes anymore, but at least he takes the card. There's nothing else I can do here and I nod to Jane as I walk away. Who knows what he's thinking now. At least he doesn't look like he'll be prying anytime soon. If there's anything Jane understands, it's a painful past.

xxxxx

I'm practicing my marksmanship at the shooting range at 6:30 in the evening after solving a difficult case. This does not bode well for my social life. But I just feel like I can't go home. Something doesn't feel right and I'm not sure what. At least this way I can practice my shot. I'm competent, but I'm nothing special. Not like the boss or Cho, I've seen them in action. It almost seems like second nature to them. I was perfectly good at the local PD where I started, but here, where everyone else is so much better I feel like I'm lacking.

And unless I'm imaging it I think I'm getting worse. Sighing I bring up my target. I'm not imaging it. My shots are definitely getting further away from the centre of the torso. Great.

"You're trying too hard."

I whipped around heart pounding. "Boss! I didn't hear you come in!"

She smiled then, "It's the earmuffs. Block out most outside noise. You're thinking too much. Relax. You're too tense. Breathe." She paused, "Do you mind if I join you?"

"Of course not Boss. Go ahead." Because you standing right there is really going to help me relax here. Concentrating on my breathing I let off a few rounds trying to ignore the near perfect target of the woman next to me. Wait a minute, what was she even doing here? After a case like this shouldn't be at home drowning her sorrows in a bottle of wine or a pint of ice cream or something? I'd have thought she'd have been as far away from here as quickly as possible. I glanced at her from the corner of my eye, she didn't look upset, not like she had earlier at least, but she didn't really look like herself either. As I finished emptying the clip of my gun I wondered if she'd come down here for a distraction like I had.

Bringing up my target I noticed that my last few rounds were actually much closer to the centre of the target. Huh. Maybe I had been thinking too hard.

"Nice job Van Pelt."

"Thanks Boss. And thanks for the tip." Her praise shouldn't mean as much to me as it does. I wonder if she even realizes how much we all look up to her. I'm the envy of all the other female agents because I have a female boss who understands what it's like in a man's world. And Rigsby and Cho tend to brag about her to all the other junior agents whenever they meet up.

Shrugging off my thanks she said "You were doing fine on your own. Besides, every so often everyone needs someone to get them out of their head on a tough day."

I glanced sharply at her, but she was concentrating on putting her gun away and I couldn't see her eyes. "Boss, if there's every anything I can do, I mean, if you ever need to talk, not that you would…"

She looked up then, and her eyes narrowed, but I still couldn't tell what she was thinking, "I don't. But I do need you to jump in and pull me out of I head if I get distracted like at the house yesterday. Keep up the good work Van Pelt. And don't stay too late, get some sleep." Then she got up to leave, "Oh, and if you ever need help with your marksmanship let me know, Cho or I can always give you a few tips."

"Thanks Boss."

She shrugged, "I take care of my team."

'Yes you do', I thought as I watched her walk away. I still didn't understand Lisbon, but at least I know she's on my side.


	5. Ladies in Red

Author's Note: So apparently I'm on a roll this week. Writing the last chapter went so wellt his one's up quickly. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. This story can be frustrating to write at times, and knowing that people are still actually reading it motivates me to continue. Oh, also, quick thing, is anybody having trouble figuring out who's speaking? Because I can introduce each section with a POV if it's confusing, otherwise I kind of don't want to. I'm afraid it might interrupt the flow of the story.

Disclaimer – Still own nothing.

Chapter 5 – Ladies in Red

When we arrived on the scene the police had already arrived. The local inspector doesn't seem to be too thrilled to be losing her case, and I can't say that I didn't sympathize, but when the Attourney General decides something I tend not to argue too much about it. At least the inspector's not the type to take out her annoyance on me. She's been nothing but helpful while showing us the crime scene and answering my questions.

Jane on the other hand, has clearly thrown her off balance. Right now he appears to be invading her personal space ever so slightly. I don't know how he does it, manage to stand just close enough to someone that they feel uncomfortable, but not so close that they feel they can ask him to move. And he thinks the victim is still here, in the room. I bet the inspector'll love that.

I wonder what Jane's up to. Even though I'll (grudgingly) admit that he can be helpful, I still feel the need to point out to the woman that he's not an agent, he's just a consultant. To make him separate, so she knows this sort of behavior isn't typical for the CBI, I guess.

Oh she's heard of him. Excellent, at least I don't have to explain. And Jane never seems to get offended when people refer to him as 'the psychic.' I think he receives more amusement from it than anything.

He thinks there's a safe room? Well, I guess that makes sense. But the way that he says it still gets on my nerves. I used to think I was fairly observant until I met Jane. Now I get a repeated daily dose of just how much I miss. It's frustrating how much he can see without even appearing to try. Oh well, the world needs all kinds. At least I know that Jane would never be able to do my job, it requires far too much tact, and Jane certainly doesn't like to conform.

Case in point, he appears to be singing a shanty. Of course the man can carry a tune. I don't even know why I'm remotely surprised at this point. Rigsby looks like he can't believe what's happening while the inspector clearly thinks Jane is insane. Under other circumstances this would be funny.

And now it's even less funny because we've got ourselves a dead body.

xxxxx

The entire team's attending the funeral, again at the express request of the Attourney General. Of course we're not just here to pay our respects, we can also see if anybody stands out as a murder suspect. Jane's intrigued by the widow, who unfortunately for us (but fortunately for her I guess) has an alibi. Well, now that the service is done there's no need for us all to be here. I'd better take Van Pelt and go get started on the Sands' computer files. I'll leave the guys here. Hopefully Cho and Rigsby can stop Jane from getting into too much trouble.

They look almost as thrilled at the prospect as Van Pelt does at more research. I guess she thought the CBI would be more glamourous. But hey, you never know, maybe we'll get lucky and someone'll just confess to this one. Yeah, right.

xxxxx

"Do you think the lawyer did it?" I figured discussing the case was my best option. Lisbon's not much of a one for small talk and I am not sitting in silence for the entire drive back to the office. That would be too awkward for words, and I'm not comfortable broaching any other topic than work with this woman.

"Hm." She appeared to think it over for a minute, "He could have. I don't know. What makes you think he did?"

"Well, Jane said that the widow might have been afraid of him… maybe because he killed her husband." It seems like a reasonable scenario to me. Although why she wouldn't go to the police if that was the case?

"It's possible, but it's also possible that he was just comforting her about something else like Jane said, or it's possible that their relationship is something different entirely, something Jane didn't see. He's not always right you know."

He's not? Well that certainly hasn't been my experience. My opinion must have shown on my face because Lisbon glanced over and sighed.

"Alright, so he's usually right, about something at least. But often not in the way that you think he is, not even always in the way he thinks he is. And to figure out if he is in this case we need to sort out the facts, and that means doing the research and figuring out who might have wanted to kill Mr. Sands."

Ah research, my old friend. Lisbon sensed my _excitement_ and laughed. "Hey, don't look like that, you're the fastest with the software, and it could be worse, I could have left you to babysit Jane at a funeral."

I laughed too when I realized she was right. Poor Rigsby and Cho, I'd definitely gotten the better end of that deal. "True. Besides, you never know, maybe we'll find something and solve the case while they're gone." I can hope right?

"That's the spirit. Let's show our pseudo-psychic what a little old-fashioned research can do."

xxxxx

"How could you do this to me? I told the mayor of San Francisco that I was putting my best people on this."

Ah, getting yelled at by the boss for something Jane's done. Despite the Attourney General's interest, so far this feels like any other case. And I don't know how this is my fault, how could I have possibly known that Jane would _hit on the widow_? _At her husband's funeral._ Clearly I mistakenly believed that there were lines that even he wouldn't cross, and that that was _way_ on the other side. But I know better than to interrupt Minelli mid-rant. I suppose I should be flattered that Minelli still considers my team his best people despite Jane's shenanigans.

"Oh holy mother, I mean, who takes off the freakin' labels? I mean what is that? I mean, is this real and is that decaf? I mean how am I supposed to know which is which?"

Jane cheerfully suggests that Minelli "Mix them both half and half and drink twice as much."

Does he really think that's helpful? That it will help quell Minelli's wrath? Especially since he's probably the one who took off the stupid labels. Now along with getting yelled at by my boss, I'm fighting a smile and Jane knows it. He's been looking at me and grinning since we followed my Minelli in here.

"And what were you thinking leaving this man alone at an event like that?"

Good question. "No excuses sir. I mistakenly treated him as a responsible adult." A mistake I won't be making again anytime soon. And what the heck were Rigsby and Cho thinking? Making a bet that Jane couldn't seduce the widow? How could they not realize that Jane has no concept of normal interpersonal boundaries? I should confine Rigsby to a desk for a week for being a moron.

"Jane you close cases, you close cases like a fiend and so I tolerate you, and I protect you, and I let you make Lisbon's life a misery."

I can't help but nod in agreement. Yup, that's about right. Even Jane is forced to concede that point.

"But there is a line, there is a line, and when you cross it I will protect myself and this unit, and I will throw you to the wolves."

I wonder where that line is exactly. 'Cause Jane's done some pretty drastic stuff. Apparently this meeting isn't over, I thought it was. What? The widow will drop all charges if Jane goes and apologizes to her, _at her house_? I. Do. Not. Understand. How does he do it? If I pulled a quarter of the crap he does I'd probably be in jail right now. The world isn't fair. But at least Minelli seems pacified, which makes my life easier.

xxxxx

As usual, something useful's come from Jane's insanity. Mr. Sands wasn't exactly the successful businessman he let everyone to believe he was. This is going to be a fun paper trail to follow. Oh who am I kidding, I'll just get Van Pelt and Rigsby to do it. One of the perks of being the boss. Van Pelt's right. We need to find that 10 million dollars. Because Jane seems sure the widow doesn't have it.

"You're not soft on her are you?" Please do not let Jane get involved with a suspect. I absolutely _refuse_ to deal with that.

"Maybe a little. We need to talk to the lawyer..."

Yeah, because I'm going to let you near the man who served you a lawsuit only a couple of days ago. That's happening. I think this is going to be agents only. Wait a minute... "Did you say maybe a little?"

"She's a gorgeous grieving widow, of course maybe a little. Don't worry it's not going to affect my work, I'm a law enforcement professional. Geez." Somehow that statement loses some of its credibility when you lie down on a couch to (probably pretend) to take a nap. All I can say is my boss had better find out about Jane's 'soft spot' for the widow or I quit.

xxxxx

There's something about following paper trails, well figurative paper trails at least. Almost everything of value is paperless nowadays, but the expression's stuck around. I know I complain about the research sometimes, but part of me likes it, solving a good puzzle. Outsmarting the criminals, and Sands has been one tricky little criminal. Very little is what it seems with this guy. And I'm having trouble figure out what's what. Oh, bingo. I've got to tell the boss.

"I found out where that money was coming from…" Unfortunately I haven't figured out the exact details, but any lead's better than no lead right? "Sands' company, it's the only one of his businesses under a separate corporate address." Which is suspicious enough on its own.

"In Sausolito?" The Boss seems intrigued. Definitely a good sign.

"Odd huh?"

"Nice work."

"We gonna have a look?" I can't quite keep the hope out of my voice? Hey, I got a nice work. And as much as I enjoy puzzles, after a day staring at computer screens field work sounds way more fun.

"_We _are. You're going to stay here and keep digging. Who owns Happy Landings Entertainment?"

Great, so it was good work, but not quite good enough. I love being the rookie on the team. Oh well, everyone's got to put in their dues. Back to my puzzle it is, and this time I'm not going to stop digging until I've solved it.

xxxxx

I felt a little bad about leaving Van Pelt back at the office after she'd basically found the lead, so I decided to let her start Adriana's interrogation. She's not bad, overplaying the whole 'bad cop, threatening jail time so you'd better talk' just a little, but still not too bad.

Unfortunately Adrianna seems to be used to being in this sort of situation. "From you I buy cookies, I don't talk about situation."

Oh, now Van Pelt looks angry. She's going to have to learn to deal with people underestimating her because she's a woman, and a pretty one at that. And getting mad seldom gets the job done. I think we need another approach here. I send her out, and Jane takes her place.

"Ah, the handsome one. Gay yes?" He is one of the few men I know that would be amused by an attractive woman assuming he's gay. God to be that secure. But, I digress. It's time to get back to the subject at hand. Well, her story seems kind of ridiculous, a rich man going to run away with a dancer/actress/model with 10 million dollars worth of diamonds and get married? It would explain where the money went, but I'm still skeptical.

"You and him, on a sailboat." Now there's an image. Jane's distracted because apparently they were going to take the kid with them, but I've got more relevant things on my mind right now, "You know who killed him?" You might have wanted to mention that earlier. But of course you didn't, because you want to make a deal. Fine, I don't really care about prosecuting you for burglary. The killers are way more important.

Rigsby seems a bit surprised that I don't care about Adrianna, "You're letting her go?"

"She gave us Dieter and Carter. I could charge her with waving a gun at Jane, but what for?" My wayward consultant and I shared a smile at that. At least Jane never gets offended, and doesn't seem to mind when I tease him. It's one of his better qualities. Also, his ability to get people to tell him important information. Apparently he's still interested in Adrianna. Well if he's going to go bother her anyways then I can save myself another encounter for the time being, "Jane, tell her not to leave town."

xxxxx

So much for my interrogation skills. I was barely in there before Lisbon decided I wasn't getting anywhere. I'll probably be researching for a month now.

"Hey Van Pelt, you got a minute?"

"Sure boss." Please don't be here to scold me.

"Quick tip, think about not starting off so tough in an interrogation, especially with women like Adrianna who are used to taking care of themselves and so probably won't scare easily. Take it a bit slower. If you start calmer it gives you somewhere to go when they don't cooperate."

Okay, makes sense, and at least I'm not being reprimanded. Lisbon really seems to want to help me out here, "Right. Thanks boss." But it turns out she wasn't done.

"Don't overcompensate for being female and pretty, and don't get angry when someone suggests that those are characteristics that make you in any way less competent then a male agent. You're a CBI agent and your looks have nothing to do with that. You let them fluster you and they feel like they're in control, not you. Whatever they say to you try and keep calm, more than likely it'll fluster them."

"Like when they talk to Cho."

She laughed, "Okay, maybe don't go quite that far; his particular technique isn't going to work for everyone. Develop one of your own and you'll get them next time." And with a nod, she started to walk back to her office, calling back over her shoulder, "Oh, and try not to let Rigsby eat everything in the van when you guys go pick up Carter and Dieter would you?"

I couldn't help smiling. Looks like I wasn't getting scolded. I should have known Lisbon would be more constructive then that.

xxxxx

Rigsby's getting antsy waiting for the entry team. Worse comes to worse we have to go after these guys. There's only two of them and from what we know they run nightclubs; they're not violent offenders. "We can deal with them."

"Suddenly she's Steve McQueen."

I can't help laughing until he points out that our suspects are, against all odds, awake. "Come on, let's take 'em." He agrees. It's unspoken, but I know neither of us want to go back to Lisbon with nothing. When we're cornering the suspects, Rigsby glances away for a second, worried about a nearby family, and one of them runs. He chases as I cuff the guy still there.

I smile when Rigsby gets back hauling Dieter with him. This is shaping up to be a pretty good day after all.

xxxxx

The poor woman. First her husband is killed, then she finds out he has a mistress, then her daughter gets kidnapped. All I can do is assure her that the men her husband stole from are currently in custody. And unfortunately, they don't really look like likely suspects. She hones right in on Jane as the most sympathetic person in the room. If she only knew how sympathetic he is about a lost little girl... I have a feeling she would have wasted even less time talking to me.

When the kidnappers finally contact us Jane claims to know where the money is, and that he has a plan. I have a very bad feeling about this.

xxxxx

"Still awake?" Why is he this cheerful this late at night?

"Wide. Jane, don't try and say anything, or stop them, all we need is their phone." Please don't pull any of your theatrics. It's not just your life at stake here, but a little girl, and I don't know what you'd do if anything were to happen to her. "Jane, just do your mind games and get out of there okay?" Even this late at night, in this situation I'm forced to acknowledge the irony of that statement. I never thought I'd be actively encouraging his craziness, but occasionally it's useful. Occasionally.

"Don't worry _Mom_." Shut up Jane. Someone has to be responsible for the rest of you lunatics. Do you think I _like_ having to be the one to scold you all the time, the one who keeps you in line. Okay, I admit, I like being in control, but every so often I wish I wasn't always the one who had to deal with the consequences.

Adrianna. Well that was somewhat unexpected actually. I kind of can't believe that she just gave Jane her gun. Bad move. But, she does seem genuinely concerned about the little girl. Something isn't right (besides murder and kidnapping I mean). I'm missing something.

xxxxx

In the end I decided that it would probably be best to just meet Minelli with coffee. Good coffee. I need all the good will I can get here. We just shot someone. That's not so much a problem, he was the bad guy. What is a problem is that we don't know who his accomplice is and he's probably dying. This leads me to the real reason I need my boss on side, "Jane has an idea."

Well, if I didn't have Minelli's full attention before, I have it now so I plow on, "but if we generate any kind of complaints as to how we go about this you've got our backs right?" Because unfortunately I don't have a better idea, and I'd rather not jump into this without a net.

"Well, that depends, obviously we need a win here, but I won't sanction anything underhanded or actionable." Great because we both know that Jane's schemes are often _completely _above board.

"That's kind of vague." And I'd rather not be the fall guy if it's all the same to you.

"The whole point of this unit is subtlety and discretion and judgement. I expect you to do what's right without dragging me into it."

"Really." I love how you get to delegate everything. Well, if all goes well, one day I'll have your job and I'll get to put whoever has mine in between a rock and a hard place. Of course that is contingent on my not killing Jane in the meantime of course.

"Yes, yes Lisbon. Of course, if I'm forced to it, I have your back. I'm insulted you need to ask." Graciousness, not one of Virgil Minelli's strong suits, but at least I got what I was after.

xxxxx

Well, Adrianna's here, now we're just waiting for Mrs. Sands. Hard to believe that one of these women would kidnap that little girl and kill the man they supposedly love. Neither of them seem like the nicest people in the world. Adrianna certainly doesn't come off as warm, and the more time I spend with her, the more the 'grieving widow' seems just a little phony. Time to execute Jane's plan, "Cho let's move."

"Oh hey, what was that name again?"

"What name?" Please let this work.

"The one that Jane thought was so important."

"Wendy."

"Right, do either of you know a woman named Wendy?"

"No."

"No, shame, she'd be worth knowing." His little smirk amuses me.

"Cho!" I try to sound as shocked as possible without overselling it. "Excuse his levity ma'am." Oh they're both definitely interested in the money, but how interested? Now to play the final card, "By the way your friend Mr. Bennet is coming along nicely. I expect we'll be talking to him shortly so if there's anything you want to pass along." Both of them seem to believe us when I tell them he'll live. I think the plan's working.

"How'd it go?" Lisbon seems tense, but I actually think we did okay.

"I think we sold it."

"Are you kidding we killed." At least I've got Cho's support. And to think, when we first met I was worried about being friends. I guess I didn't foresee bonding over a scheme to trap a suspect.

xxxxx

They're both gone. Both of them. Great. Minelli's going to kill me. Oh, okay, Adrianna's in the room with Julie. Huh, guess I misjudged her. It was the _grieving_ widow. Luckily Jane's already at the Sands' house to meet her and the police are on their way.

And when it's all said and done what do the guys want to know? When Jane first suspected the widow. He claims he suspected all along, but we've all long since passed the point where we believe that. Still, there's just one thing that needs to be cleared up, "So you made that bet with Rigsby that you could seduce her with the deliberate intention of ensnaring her?"

"I wanted to win the bet too, but ah, I couldn't" Typical male response. Wanting to seduce a grieving woman, even one you suspect might have killed her husband. Although it does make me wonder about his mental state and if he really has sworn off romance. That man is no where near ready to move on. Of course I'm sure that won't stop him from trying to convince Rigsby to take his advice and go after Van Pelt. Poor man. I almost pity him if Jane's decided to make him a personal project. Yet another thing I have to keep from causing trouble. Oh well, our budding romance is unlikely to happen anytime soon if Rigsby's attitude is anything to go by. When it does I just hope they have enough sense to keep it out of the office.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: So I finally got around to writing another chapter of this much-neglected fic (shuffles feet apologetically). I'm sorry to anyone who's been reading it. I keep getting caught up in other fic and neglecting this one. I will try and post chapters more regularly. Also, I noticed during this one how little Van Pelt is in some of the episodes. I decided not to do all the scenes because there's only so many times you can write about them being sensitive while interviewing victim's families…

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 6 – Episode 5: Redwood

I love these rural cases sometimes. Between law enforcement officials who don't even think to look _under_ the car for a body, a search team who assumes that a second missing girl is automatically a killer (even though at this point it's about equally likely that she's another victim) and the added fact that everyone knows everyone else and so already has an opinion on what's happening, my job can get frustrating. At least I insisted on taking over the investigation if they wanted our help. Oh goody, Jane's stating his theories about the case as if they were facts and making the sheriff want to shoot him, again. Ignoring Jane the man turns to me, "Okay, so you're in charge now. Whadda we do?"

But Jane answers before I can, suggesting we stop searching and gather back closer to the town. The sheriff is angry that Jane wants to give up. Of course his anger turns to condescension when Jane asks his opinion about which of the men searching is a violent sexual predator. He thinks it's a guess of course. Luckily I've had much more experience with Jane's methods, and this time he actually has statistics on his side. "Jane's being dramatic, but if somebody did victimize Kara and Nicole, statistics show that they'd be really likely to join the search party." A fact which is a little bit unsettling, but sadly, given what I've seen over the years, hardly surprising. Most people love showing off how clever they are, the criminals are just the ones who are a bit scary about it. Jane has another theory about why they do it of course.

"They enjoy the deceit. It's like being the invisible man."

The sheriff is defensive, but I know he'll end up doing what Jane wants. People always do. And there we go, he acquiesces. And _that_ is why my team is in charge.

xxxxx

I think I spoke too soon. Right now even I'm skeptical of what Jane's up to. All of a sudden I wish I'd gone with Van Pelt to talk to the family instead of Rigsby. Leave the guys to deal with Jane's insanity. Unfortunately I didn't for several reasons, one is that Van Pelt needs to get used to working with different people, also I didn't want her to think I was acting as some sort of babysitter. She and Rigsby will be fine on their own. And lastly of course, I'm the only one who has even a modicum of control over Jane.

Sometimes.

"I want you to look at me, all of you, and listen closely. I'd like you to raise your hands above your heads like this. Both hands."

I'm surprised people are even doing it. I'm going to assume I don't have to take part in this little exercise since _I'm_ clearly not a suspect.

"You too sheriff. And _you_ Agent Lisbon."

What? Why? There's no point. He's enjoying this.

"Please?"

I can't believe he actually phrased it like it's a question. It's not really, if I don't do this it'll undermine the whole thing now, but still… Fine I'll do it, but this'd better work.

"One of you, one of you here killed Kara Palmer and abducted Nicole Goodman. I want that person to lower their right hand now."

There is a noticeable lack of anyone dropping a hand. Jane, you'd better not make me look like an idiot now, after all that we _just _went through with the sheriff.

"Ah, okay. Okay, that usually gets a hit. Forget I even spoke."

So much for not looking like an idiot. This had better be some part of a larger plan where Jane gets inside the killer's head by screwing with him.

As it turns out it might not even matter, because Nicole Gilbert's been found.

xxxxx

I have to say that even though I hoped otherwise, I wasn't expecting to ever see Nicole Gilbert alive. I'm pleased we're in a hospital talking to a doctor instead of a morgue getting the facts from the coroner.

"She has no memory at all of the events that brought her here."

The sheriff clearly doesn't buy it for some reason. "That's convenient. If I'd just stabbed my best friend to death I'd want to forget too. Soon as she's well enough I'm charging her and taking her to jail."

What? I thought he was a little more impartial than that. I love that no one in this town except for (ironically enough) Kara's parents seem to be even entertaining the idea that Nicole might be a second victim. Luckily I'm the one that gets to make that call, not him. I'm a bit less confrontational about it than some of my colleagues, but I'm always clear. My case, my decisions. "Sherriff, I'm the one leading this investigation. I decide when to file charges; we don't have the full facts yet."

Of course he's convinced of her guilt merely because it looks like she could be the killer, and she's had a screwed up upbringing. Must have been her. Now he wants to know what more do I want to make an arrest? I'll tell you what I want to know sheriff; I want to know her side of the story! "Is she well enough to speak to?" And I'm not going to go storming in there and accusing her of murder either. If she is a victim she's terrified out of her mind right now. I can't tell her that her best friend is dead and we think she did it. Hell, I don't even want to tell her that her best friend is dead if her mind is as fragile as the doctor says.

Jane on the other hand has no such compunctions. "She's dead. Stabbed to death."

Way to be gentle there Jane! I know you don't trust doctors, but sometimes people don't react well to sudden shocks. Try a little compassion would you?

Well, we know that she probably genuinely has amnesia. The sheriff is of course skeptical, but I've been working with Jane long enough to trust him on this. And so even though the sheriff doesn't believe him when he Jane tells the man that Nicole was telling the truth, and even though his reason is as shaky as 'he could tell by looking in her eyes', I'm inclined to side with my consultant. For some reason ever since we got here I never really got the impression that Nicole was the killer, although I couldn't say why. It could just be a gut reaction against all the assumptions everyone else is making. That girl needs someone on her side, someone besides Jane of course. So we're going to organize a search of the cabins near the river, and we're going to assume she's telling the truth until it's proven otherwise.

Time to go find out exactly what went on at that party, and exactly what Kara thought of Jason.

xxxxx

Lisbon sent me with the guys to go pick up Rulon Gardiner. I'm thrilled to be out in the field. This is twice now this case, although I can't say that I really enjoyed anything about talking to a pair of grieving parents. Luckily I don't think I'll have to be too worried about being sympathetic this time around. Unsurprisingly Rulon turned out to be in a bar. I waited discretely outside the door to the men's washroom while the guys went in to pick him up. I never know what to do exactly in situations like this. I mean, sure we need to bring the guy in for questioning, but does that mean that I just burst into the men's washroom? Sure, this time it's not a big deal because I'm with the guys and I can let them deal with it but…

Or can I let them deal with it? They're sure taking a long time. And… was that a thud? Well that's definitely signs of a scuffle. You know what? I don't care. I'm going in.

Wow, I wasn't expecting to see Rigsby on the ground and Cho in a headlock. Cho's punching the guy in the gut, but I've got another target in mind, and one probably only a woman would think of.

Oh I see they're all over it now that the guy's on the ground. You guys just get those handcuffs on. I'll be standing right here if you need me. "Nice job guys."

Cho and I let Rigsby take Rulon into the office. "Nice timing back there," he told me. "I was really getting a little sick of being in a headlock. Our friend Rulon has some serious body odor."

"I had noticed. What exactly was your plan by the way?"

"Punch him in the solar plexus until either he let go, you came in, or Rigsby got up off the floor to give me a hand."

"Nice plan."

"Hey. It's not like Rigsby or I expected him to come charging at us like a train immediately after we introduced ourselves."

"Don't potential suspects often do that when you go to haul them in for questioning?"

"I think I liked you better when you were still settling in." Then he grinned, "Come on. We'd better go prepare."

"For what?"

"Our interview. You took the guy down, you get to help ask him the questions."

"Really?" I asked, unable to contain my excitement.

"Yup. I'll still be there with you of course, but Lisbon thinks you're ready."

"She said that?" Did she really say that, or is Cho being nice.

"Well, okay, not aloud." Cho was forced to admit. I know my face probably fell a little as he continued. "But it was implied. Besides, she wants you to see different interrogation techniques. And mine's way more effective than Rigsby's."

I just laughed as we walked into the office.

xxxxx

"So how'd you know Kara?"

This is a bit awkward. I feel like I'm in the middle of an oral exam. Lisbon and Jane are standing five feet away from me, and I know that really they're testing Rulon, but I feel like I'm being graded as well. I know Lisbon told me not to react when the people we were interviewing baited me, but I can't help feeling disgusted by this guy. He's a creep. Cho is (of course) completely calm, but this guy makes my skin crawl. He gives pretty girls free makeup, so that they'll sleep with him in return. And he admits it without shame.

"I disgust you don't I?"

"A little bit, yeah." No point in pretending otherwise. Maybe I should take a page out of Cho's book. See if the truth throws him off a bit.

"You're pretty. How's your lipstick supply?"

Well now I want to punch him. I can do it too. My father taught me how to throw a solid punch. I could break his nose if I wanted. But I won't give him the satisfaction. I need to be in control here. Oh jeez… now he's starting in on some sob story about how beautiful people could have no idea what his life is like. I don't care. He gets no sympathy from me. Believe me, people make assumptions about beautiful people too.

xxxxx

She's doing fairly well. I thought she was ready. I always like being right about things like that, or you know, about things in general. I admit part of the reason I put her across from him is that he might react to a pretty young woman. We know he likes Kara. I also wanted to know how Van Pelt would react to such blatant sexism. She needs to learn now because I have a feeling she'll see it a lot. Sure this guys a bit sketchy and he's clearly trying to bait her, but she's holding herself together. This is definitely better than last time when the suspect suggested she was nothing more than a girl scout. Actually, I think Rigsby's more likely to punch this guy than Van Pelt right now. Rulon can't possibly think he's fooling anybody here, can he?

"It's not my fault I look like this."

"It is actually. With a low carb diet and exercise you could look very different."

Well, he's certainly not fooling Cho, god love him. Don't laugh Theresa. What example will you be sending to Van Pelt if you laugh now? _Don't_ laugh.

Okay why on earth does Jane care how much this guy weighs? I'll have to ask him later. I'm much more interested in finding out what, if anything Rulon Gardner got from Kara. He seems reluctant to say. Because apparently the answer's nothing. This guy's hasn't got much to say all of a sudden. He was along in his hotel room, but of course no witnesses. I don't know. He's a creep, but I'm not sure he did this. I'll check with Cho first though.

Cho suggests Jane talk to him. Fine, that's supposedly what he's here for. "Hey Jane, wanna have a crack at him?" If we're not disturbing you from your mp3 player of course, "JANE!"

"Oh him? Let him go."

Okay, could you have said that any _louder_? Even if we are going to do that I don't necessarily want him to know it. Idiot. "Let him go?" Before I do anything you're telling me why.

"Yes let him go."

"We had to fight to catch him." Rigsby sounds a bit put out by that. Why exactly it took three CBI agents to bring this guy in I'll never know. Cho and Rigsby were muttering at that point, something about Van Pelt having to run in to help neutralize the situation. I decided not to ask.

"Oh you're such policemen. Yes let him go."

"Why?"

"He liked Kara. Why would he kill her and kidnap Nicole. It doesn't make any sense." Alright that's true, but Jane's not done. "Besides, he blushed when he lied about his weight. A man without guile. Innocent."

I wonder if he realizes how crazy he sounds sometimes. I wonder how crazy _I_ sound when I go along with his ideas. I'm not turning him loose because he blushed when he liked about his weight. "A man blushing when he lies about his weight doesn't make him innocent, it makes him sensitive about his weight." We're going to keep him under surveillance, just to make sure I've got everything covered.

Speaking of having everything covered… "Is that Kara's mp3 player?"

"Yeah."

"What are you doing with it?" Put that down! You can't just take evidence!

"Uh, listening to music. It's pretty good." Don't give me that innocent tone you idiot. Why do I always feel like the ringleader of a circus?

"That's evidence you can't play with that!"

"Evidence of what? She likes music?"

Shut up. There are rules, which I know you ignore, even if the rest of us can't! "It's in the LOG as physical evidence. It's evidence."

Come on guys back me up here. "Seriously, if it's in the log it's in the log. You can't touch it." Thank you Rigsby. I'm not your mother Jane, but, "Put that back!"

I tell him we're going to keep an eye on Rulon for the next little while and decide to take the first shift with Rigsby.

Who has not stopped eating the entire time we've been here. While I try to ignore the sound of Rigsby sucking on a ketchup packet I hear something else. "Listen."

"Cars."

"The flow of them it's like a hum. What if Nicole didn't hear water that night? What if it was the flow of traffic?" We searched the cabins on the wrong side of town! I need a ranger. Rigsby can watch Rulon, I'm going to start searching cabins.

xxxxx

"Agent Lisbon, your man Jane just kidnapped Nicole Gilbert from the hospital."

"Oh no." Seriously? I quit. Yeah, that's about right. This is about the time in a case where I threaten it. I always hope I won't get to that point, but I always do.

"Oh yes! And I'm not happy. In fact I'm mad as hell" Can't say I blame you.

"Sheriff I will fix this. Let me get on this right away." I tell the ranger I'm having personnel issues, the understatement of the year. Of course Jane doesn't even pick up his phone. He's got to know I'm gunning for him. What the hell was he thinking?

Ranger Kyle and I continue to search the cabins. A few minutes later my phone rings. I make sure to check the caller ID before answering, even though I'm pretty sure I know who it is. "Where the hell are you?" I demand. Getting a description. An almost _useless_ description. For which he irritated every local law enforcement official working on this case. And all he can say is that at least I have deniability? Yeah, that'll definitely help me sleep at night. Jane's level of consideration is truly frightening sometimes.

"Listen to me carefully and do exactly as I tell you. Take her back to the hospital and sincerely apologize to Sheriff Nelson." Just this once could you do it Jane? Just once?

For some reason the ranger's casual questions are rubbing me the wrong way. I can't help remembering Jane's point that a member of the search team might be involved. So I keep my answers purposefully vague. I'm sure it's nothing, but better to be on the safe side.

Oh, that's Jane again. "Hey."

"Pineapple. He smelled like pineapple."

"What the hell!?" But then it hits me. This guy's been rubbing me wrong all day. Well, Jane was right; it was a member of the search team. Better call in the cavalry and hope they get here in time. As I'm reaching for my gun and trying not to make any sudden moves or spook him, I tell Kyle, "I do have to take you into custody for killing Kara Palmer."

Well at least now I have witnesses to the confession in case I end up dead. Also lucky this old shed is full of furniture. This cabinet, or whatever it is, is doubling as an excellent shield. Not so lucky, that Jane is calling my name through my phone. Because that's not going to give my position away. "Shhhh! I tell him."

"You alright?" he whispers.

"Yeah. You call Rigsby?"

"Yeah he's on his way." Thank goodness. "Listen, I have an idea." Oh no. Alright, that might actually work. Actually, it better work, because otherwise Jane I will come back and haunt you. I slide my phone to the other side of the room and hope Kyle didn't actually see where I jumped. Because otherwise he'll know this is a con.

I almost can't believe he actually fell for it. By Jane's distraction did give me enough time to get out of that shed. The man is a master of the sleight of hand. I'm sure I don't catch him at it all the time.

Luckily there's only one door. And here he is. "Drop it!" I yell, as I point my gun to his temple. You killed an innocent girl and tried to kill me. Just give me a reason to pull this trigger.

"Really, drop it." Rigsby adds when he arrives. "On your knees."

I can't stop the breath I let out. I think I deserve one moment to panic. After all, I just got shot at repeatedly. Jane's going to be insufferable after this.

xxxxx

I arrived at the office bright and early this morning to find that I'd missed an exciting night. Lisbon was barking orders to everyone to pack up, Jane was half asleep on the couch, Rigsby was nowhere to be found, while Cho, if he'd been anyone else I'd have said he was hovering around his boss.

"What's going on?" I asked him discretely when he wandered in my direction.

"Lisbon and Jane figured it out last night. First Lisbon realized that Nicole hadn't heard running water, but traffic and so was searching the cabins with one of the rangers on the other side of the lake. Meanwhile Jane kidnapped Nicole from the hospital," he paused when he saw my face, "Yeah. Lisbon was thrilled. Anyways, he kidnaps Nicole, replays here some music so she remembers what happened and gets a description. He calls Lisbon, who realizes the description matches the ranger she's with." My eyes widened, this wasn't going to be good. "Something about smelling like pineapple. I don't know. Anyways, it ends with a shootout, and a diversion involving Jane and a cell phone. Anyways, long story short, Lisbon's okay and Rigsby arrived on the scene in time to help her arrest the guy. Apparently Jane was quite concerned about her though, and none too pleased when she didn't call him back right away after the arrest. You know how he likes to know what's going on."

"So you're saying we missed all the fun."

He almost grinned, "Pretty much. But at least we didn't get shot at."

I acknowledged that as I went to go pack up my desk, greeting the rest of the team on my way over. You know, sometimes I forget how dangerous our jobs really are. Then something happens that reminds you. I mean, Cho wasn't making too big a deal over the whole thing, but I can tell he was worried about Lisbon, felt guilty she'd been on her own, and I'd bet Rigsby feels the same way. I'd also bet that even though Jane's pretending to be asleep that he's really watching her. Checking in. Not that she's paying any attention. She's just going about her day making sure everything gets done. But none of us our kidding ourselves, she could have died last night.

But she didn't, because her team was there for her. Because she's a competent agent, and because she had a little bit of a luck. So I get to keep working with the woman who's taught me so much, and I haven't lost the best boss I've ever had.

As I was grabbing some stuff from the drawers of my desk Lisbon wandered over, "Morning Van Pelt. Did Cho fill you in?" When I nodded she continued, "Good. Case is closed. We got him, sheriff's taking it from here. Do you think you could take control of packing up the computer equipment? You know better than anyone what we brought."

"Sure thing boss," she nodded and went to move on. "Hey boss?" I called after her. She turned back towards me, "I'm glad you're alright."

She smiled. "Thanks. Me too."

xxxxx

Well, it seems like the two of us are doing alright. Jane got a hug from Nicole. I got a hug from Kara's father. That's the way I prefer it I have to say. You can tell he really loves her. Maybe not as much as he loved Kara, but… he said right from the start. He knew this wasn't her fault. I hope she'll be okay. I turn to Jane and try to lighten the mood.

"Hey, can you believe he fell for that old cell phone gag?"

"_Old_ cell phone gag? I invented that right there and then. Rather brilliantly I thought."

Of course you thought you were brilliant. I hate to burst your bubble but… "Oh please. I've seen that done a dozen times."

"What do you mean? Where?"

"On TV." Still counts.

"Oh, on TV. Well, anything can happen on TV. The question is where have you seen that done in real life?" Somehow I doubt that enough people work with crazy consultants to make that an issue…

xxxxx

TBC


	7. Redhanded

Alright, so here's the next one. This one was fun to write. For one, a lot more happens in this episode than the previous one. Also, it's one of my favourites, so I've been looking forward to it. I hope I did it justice. Oh, and thanks to all the lovely people who reviewed my last chapter. I always appreciate it.

Chapter 7 – Episode 6 – Red Handed

I had to get up bright and early this morning to drive to a case in the middle of nowhere. And I had to do it in a car with my boss and Patrick Jane. It was an interesting experience to say the least. It started off normally enough. Lisbon had insisted on driving. Jane had immediately called shotgun like a five year old. I'd simply rolled my eyes and gotten in the backseat. I'd been hoping for a relatively quiet ride up, so Jane of course had been in a particularly talkative mood.

"So, everybody ready for an early start?" He'd asked the second we were all seated.

"Raring to go." Lisbon had replied sarcastically before heading on her way. "Grab the map from the glove compartment would you? Since you're riding shotgun you're in charge of navigating."

"What no GPS?"

"It broke," she told him flatly. "I know basically where I'm going, but I need you to check exits and things like that."

"Sure thing." He said cheerfully. "Don't worry Lisbon. I have an excellent sense of direction. I'll have us there in no time. Well, not no time since I'm sure you'll insist on abiding all of the speed limits, but in reasonable time at least. Besides, if we get lost, unlike the stereotypical male, I'm not averse to asking for directions."

"How very progressive of you," she responded dryly. Sometimes I wondered if she practiced speaking in a voice devoid of emotion for use specifically when speaking to Jane.

"Aha. Here we go. We're heading for the border right? I assume you want to take the interstate as far as possible?"

"No Jane, by all means, let's take the scenic route so that we can get there an hour later than everyone else." I didn't even bother to conceal my smirk at that.

"Well why didn't you say so? In that case I recommend we take county road…"

"_Jane…_"

"Kidding, Lisbon, kidding. It's exit 33, then we drive straight north to the border. Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning I see." When Lisbon only growled in response he turned his attention to me, "Don't worry Grace, she'll be better in about half an hour. Sadly our fearless leader is hardly a morning person."

Even if that was true I felt the need to say _something_ in defense of my boss, especially since as far as I could tell she generally had the patience of a saint. "Well, I was hardly thrilled when I got the call at 6 o'clock this morning Jane." Thankfully I stopped myself before I added a comment about some of us needing our sleep. It was generally known that Jane was an insomniac, but for obvious reasons no one but Lisbon ever dared to mention it.

"Well we can't have this ladies! We're on our way to a potentially exciting case after all. A single body part. That should tax our collective deductive skills. I propose a game of 'I spy' to lift our spirits and hone our observational skills for the day." I barely stopped myself from dropping my head into my hands. Lisbon sighed. "What, no volunteers?" Jane asked in a voice of exaggerated shock. "Alright, I'll go first!"

"Jane we're practically in the desert." Lisbon pointed out.

"So?"

"There is a noticeable lack of colour variation." Yes, excellent. Please let this argument make him stop.

"So there is. Well, we'll just have to be more creative won't we? I spy with my little eye something that is green."

Dead silence.

Surprisingly Lisbon gave in first, a hint of a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Is it a cactus?"

"Lisbon! I'm surprised at you? Do you really think I'd go for something so obvious? I'm hurt!"

"Maybe I thought you picked it precisely because it was so obvious that you thought I'd never pick it."

"In which case picking the obvious answer would have thwarted my clever plan." Jane considered her argument for a moment, "Alright I forgive you."

"You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that." Seriously, she _must_ practice that voice at home.

"But you _are_ still incorrect, another guess?"

"Is it the light next to the fuel gage?"

"Nope."

"The banner on the map?"

"Nope."

"The air freshener?"

"Again, no. Lisbon I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet, it's as plain as the nose on your face."

I admit I was a bit curious at this point. Lisbon was clearly considering her next guess carefully, but I could tell she was running out of ideas. Suddenly I knew, "Is it Lisbon's eyes?" I asked.

He turned to the backseat beaming. "Correct! Well done Van Pelt! Your turn next." Great. I'd forgotten about that rule.

Luckily my turn was put off by Lisbon's objections. "Wait a minute! You picked my eyes? How on earth could you expect me to guess that? Isn't it supposed to be something everyone can see? I don't think you're allowed to pick your opponent's own eyes."

"You never specified any rule of the sort before we started my dear. Besides, you can see your eyes when you look in the mirror. And as a conscientious driver you are supposed to be checking your mirrors fairly regularly, every few seconds I believe. Surely you would have gotten a glimpse of your own eyes at some point if that had been the case."

"My mirrors aren't aimed to point back at my own face Jane! But never mind, that's fine. I guess anything's fair game. Go on Van Pelt."

What? She was supporting this madness now? What had happened to being annoyed with Jane? I sighed before giving in, "Fine. I spy with my little eye, something that is…"

Let's just say that after about a half an hour of playing eye spy, any sane person wants to shoot themselves. After half an hour of playing eye spy interspersed with Jane and Lisbon's sparring I was quite ready to get out of the car when we arrived at the crime scene. I really had no idea what was going on with those two. Sometimes I thought that they barely tolerated each other, while others they came across as almost best friends. Whatever the case they could be exhausting.

We'd arrived before Rigsby and Cho. Lisbon went over to talk to the local law enforcement. Jane started surveying the surrounding area and I wandered over to take a look at the hand. I have to say, I've never actually seen a severed limb before. This is a first for me.

I heard Rigsby and Cho before I saw them.

"That damn GPS is going to put it in California, I know it."

"Un unh. Think positive. It's Nevada. Definitely Nevada."

"You're dreaming; we'll catch it. Stone cold mystery."

"Hey." I greeted them. "Forensics are already running the prints. Maybe we'll get a quick match." I suggested optimistically. Although Rigsby seemed to disagree. Turns out he hated dismemberments, too much missing information.

Jane of course held the opposite view; he somehow thought we could get a ton of information from a single hand. Did, he… did he just _smell_ the hand? Rigsby and Cho turned away in disgust, but I noticed Lisbon seemed to take his antics in stride as she shrugged and told the scandalized-looking man she was talking to that Jane was a consultant. I suppose that in order to supervise Jane and _not _go crazy you would just have to ignore at least half of the things he did, but I always marveled at her ability to remain so very calm in the face of his bizarre methods.

"He's upper management in the hotel or gaming business." Jane told me, clearly pleased with himself. I nodded, it sounded plausible after all, after Jane explained it. Cho was less impressed.

"Total guess," he said.

"What do you want to bet I'm right?"

Okay, I can't believe they're betting thirty-five cents that Jane's right, for any number of reasons. One, it's thirty-five cents! Why bother? Two, I can't believe that they're betting on the identity of our victim. That just seems so disrespectful to me. "I don't think it's right to bet on such things. That's a human being that died." Treat the remains with a little respect would you?

"No it's okay." Rigsby told me. "We're in Nevada. Here in California, yeah, that'd be wrong. But here, in Nevada, it's okay to gamble on body parts." Jane seemed amused at Rigsby's logic, but I was still annoyed. Call me old-fashioned, but I think it's _never _okay to gamble on body parts, regardless of whether or not you're in Nevada.

Lisbon walked up then, dashing Rigsby's hopes and disproving his argument, "The hand's three feet into the state of California so he's our baby."

"Hooray," Rigsby said dejectedly.

"Yeah, hooray," Lisbon agreed, before ordering that the hand be removed and put in evidence.

"Do we have an ID at least?" I asked, because that would at least be something to go on.

"The prints say that it's James Quincy Myer. He runs the Calida Resort and Casino." I was impressed. Jane was right. I walked away as Cho gave him his stupid thirty-five cents.

Sigh. Boys.

xxxxx

I decided to take Jane and Van Pelt with me to interview the family, then later to the casino. Van Pelt looked thrilled that she'd been chosen to go out in the field as opposed to being on her usual research duty. Jane was always useful when we met with potential suspects, and I wanted to see how Van Pelt was doing talking to family members. She'd improved, was more confident. She asked more questions this time around. Excellent

The wife and daughter seemed devastated, and the son-in-law seemed upset, but he was also clearly a bit of a jerk. More concerned about his football game and his scotch then his dead father-in-law. Jane didn't say anything, but that didn't mean anything. He could just be hiding his opinions so he could orchestrate a big reveal later.

"Any thoughts?" I asked my colleagues as we left for the casino.

"Robbery looks like a good motive." Van Pelt suggested. "One hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money."

"It sure is." I agreed. "But you could only use it in the casino. And surely even the stupidest of thieves would realize that the chip would probably be easily recognizable. How many hundred thousand dollar chips can there be?"

"Gamble a lot do you Lisbon?" Jane asked, grinning.

"No, not particularly. Why?"

"Just wondering."

I decided to ignore that. "Any thoughts about _the case_?"

He shrugged, "Could be robbery. Too early to tell."

We rode in relative silence on the way to the casino, apart from a call to Rigsby that confirmed the possible mafia connection. The head of security had clearly been on the look-out for us and approached us almost as soon as we walked in the door.

"Agent Lisbon?" he asked, as he approached. "Matt Étienne. I'm head of security."

"This is Agent Van Pelt and Mr. Jane from our team." I introduced my colleagues before Mr. Étienne led us on a tour of the casino. Jane seemed at turns fascinated, at turns amused by the set-up.

"They use the same techniques in animal husbandry to make the cows and sheep feel comfortable," he told our guide.

Luckily, unlike most of the people we tended to meet, Mr. Étienne appeared to have a sense of humour. "Really?" He asked.

"Dim lights, soft music, a maze of passages that lead you back to the pens, or in this case the slots."

"Ooh. Don't hold back. Speak your mind." He seems almost amused, interesting. I'm just glad that probably means I don't have to worry about maintaining a neutral facial expression.

"There's no clocks or windows anywhere, so there's no passage of time. Low price alcohol is poured down you by attractive young women. Oxygen is pumped into the place to make you stay awake, and the constant symphony of bells and sirens that make it seem like someone's winning all the time." I couldn't hold back my amusement at this point. Sometimes Jane could be great fun, especially when he was around people who seemed to take his antics in stride, as opposed to just getting mad, something Van Pelt needed more practice with.

"_Ah_, but someone _is_ always winning. You see our machines and our games are carefully designed to let every gambler have a taste of victory. Just enough sugar to keep them pumping their money into the machines and onto the tables, so what's your point?"

"Oh, no point. I love it." He would. This is exactly the type of environment Jane excels in, all pageantry and control. He was grinning like a little boy.

"You guys are going to be going over a bunch of boring files now I expect, so I think I'll work here, play a little. Get the lay of the land."

Uh huh. That sounds like a test. Are you testing me Patrick Jane? Seeing if I'll let you? How I'll react? Before I could reply he continued, "Give me a hundred bucks would ya?" Seriously? You think I'm just going to hand you a hundred dollars? Don't even try that smile on me Jane. I wasn't born yesterday.

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Sure ya do. I'll give it back to you doubled."

I sighed, knowing he'll just keep pestering me until I gave in. At least this way I could make some money at the same time. "Look, here's a hundred, but you'll pay me back double right?" I keep my voice as skeptical as possible. He's not the only one who can issue a challenge.

He glanced amusedly at Étienne, who grinned back. "Triple," he countered, rising to the bait. I grinned after him. This could be fun, if he didn't get arrested of course.

xxxxx

Van Pelt and I were still in the security office going through files. The number 43 kept cropping up, but so far we didn't have anything to cross reference it with. Matt had dismissed the idea of a mafia hit, and I have to admit I'd been skeptical of it myself when I'd first heard the theory. Not that I was naïve enough to think that the mafia didn't exist anymore, but it did seem a bit far-fetched, especially for a man who was reputed to be as honest as everyone said Mr. Myer had been. Suddenly I heard our connection over the intercom, "Mr. Étienne, we have a possible code nine over at table 43."

43 again. "What's a code nine?" I asked.

"Cheating."

Uh oh. I suddenly knew, without even having to check the monitor that Jane was somehow involved. I probably shouldn't have left him unsupervised in a casino.

We approached to discover that Jane had been quite successful.

"Mr. Jane can I have a word with you?" Matt asked him quietly.

"Just a minute."

"Jane." I warned him. We really need management's cooperation here.

"I'm on a streak."

"Yes you are, and we're really wondering what your secret is." Matt told him.

"It's no secret. I'm memorizing the cards." Way to just admit that there Jane. Because _no one _here is going to have a problem with that.

"Yes, but we don't like people doing that."

"Is having a good memory illegal?"

"No, it's not. We can only congratulate you on your good luck and bar you from the establishment in the future." Well, at least the head of security didn't seem to be angry. Maybe we could get out of here without recriminations.

"Okay. Well, that was fun while it lasted." He finally stood up. "By the way, I hate to be a tattle-tale, but Alexandra's robbing you blind."

"Excuse me?" Matt sounded shocked, but when Jane went on to provide serious evidence of exactly how the dealer was cheating he was more convinced. I should have known this would be part of his plan. And if our victim knew, it would explain why he had 43 written on his hand. It was the table number. Jane perked up again, when it came time to collect his chips. "I think this is mine. D'you wanna help me?" he asked. I couldn't resist gleefully helping him grab his chips. He even thanked me for it. I also decided it probably wasn't worth scolding him. After all, he hadn't done anything _really_ wrong. And he had figured out the connection to the number 43. Besides, now I'd be sure to get my three hundred dollars, and if I reprimanded him for everything he did I'd have lost my voice long ago.

xxxxx

"Can you believe Jane won $250 000?" I asked Rigsby, as Jane went to join Lisbon and Cho in interrogation. "That's, that's…" I was completely flabbergasted.

"That's enough to buy a small house." Rigsby finished for me. "Must be nice." He added. "Being able to do that, I mean. You wouldn't really have to worry about anything."

When I looked at him he continued, "I mean, it's not like Jane did anything illegal, or even all that unethical. After all, if he can memorize the cards then he's just better at blackjack than the average person. It might make the other gamblers mad but…" He had a point, being able to win that kind of money just like that. The possibilities were endless.

"Can you imagine if he ever decided to become a criminal?" It was a scary thought.

"We'd never catch him." Rigsby finished.

"Lisbon might." I pointed out, "Eventually."

Rigsby shrugged, acknowledging the point, before grinning, "So what do you think's in that bag he brought with him?"

xxxxx

Cho had just gotten started with Alexandra's interrogation when Jane arrived. "Hey." He greeted me.

We stood in silence watching Cho. When Alexandra claimed that she didn't know that Myers was dead I couldn't resist glancing at Jane to see if he believed her. She seemed genuinely upset, but she could have just been a good actress. Jane's face was impassive. I had no idea whether he thought she was guilty or not.

"I wonder why Myer didn't talk to Étienne about her, as head of security she's ultimately his responsibility." He wondered.

Good question, with really only one logical answer. "Maybe he figured Étienne was in on it with her."

Jane acknowledged the point, but in a way that made me unsure whether he was acknowledging that my theory was a good one, or whether he was congratulating me for finally coming to the conclusion he'd come to hours ago. Before I could do anything about it Jane decided to burst into the interrogation room. "Ah, sorry to interrupt, quick question, when Myer asked you if Étienne was involved in your scam, what'd you tell him?"

"I told him that Mr. Étienne had nothing to do with it."

"But he does, doesn't he?"

"No." Huh, I almost believed her there.

"Thanks. You can go."

What does he mean she can go? She just admitted to committing a crime! I'm going to kill that man. Where does he get the authority to release _my _suspects?

I stalked after him. "She can go can she?"

One look at my face and even he seemed to realize what he'd done wrong. "I'm sorry," he told me. Whether he was or not, at least this time he had the decency to _look _contrite.

"The Nevada gaming commission's gonna want to charge her with gaming violations, why should we let her go?"

"Why do we get so hung up on every little law someone breaks?"

Seriously? You're seriously asking me this? Do I really need to spell it out for you? Let me think really hard about my answer here. Oh, I don't know… "Because we're officers of the law?"

"Also, because Matt Étienne is lying. Now you can call him and tell him that Alexandra Ye cooperated with us, and based on what she had to say we'd like to speak to him first thing in the morning."

"Okay, but if he is in cahoots with Alexandra he's just going to call her and ask her what she said."

"And she will swear blind she said nothing, which will make our friend Matt even more suspicious. Why did we let her go if she gave us nothing? She must have told us the truth."

"Which is…?"

"Ah, details." Yes, who cares about those pesky things? They're only crucial to actually solving a case. And without them I'm perfectly justified in letting a woman who's admitted to breaking the law go free. But Jane has already moved on to other things.

He hands me a white box, "What is it?" I ask.

"Open it. It's not a fake turd or anything." Yes, because _that's_ what I thought was in here. Like you'd ever put anything that obvious in here. If anything, it'd be something designed to embarrass me, but it'd never be a traditional joke gift. On the other hand, it seemed I wasn't the only person getting a gift. "Van Pelt," he called to the younger agent, before tossing her a box.

I couldn't believe it when I opened my box, "What is this?" I asked. They couldn't possibly be real, could they? There was no way that Jane had bought… I mean… this was ridiculous.

"Carbon, placed under extreme pressure."

Oh my god. He had. He'd bought Van Pelt and I diamond necklaces. I assume with the money he won at the casino. It was sort of sweet, but… I mean… I couldn't go around accepting gifts worth tens of thousands of dollars from a member of my team. _Especially _given how he'd won the money. "We can't keep this stuff."

"We can't?" Van Pelt asked. I could tell she was disappointed, and I hated to burst her bubble, but… did she honestly think we could go around accepting gifts like this from Jane?

"No, it's against regulations."

"No it's not. I won the money fair and square and I spent it fair and square. Where do the regulations come into it?"

Don't play dumb with me Jane. You know very well why I can't accept this. And I don't think you honestly expected me to accept it when you gave it to me.

"So where's our stuff?" Cho asked.

"Your stuff?" Jane responded, pretending to be surprised by the question.

"Well you didn't just get stuff for the ladies, that'd be creepy."

I snickered to myself, but I had to acknowledge his point. That would be weird, even for Jane. Besides, Rigsby had such a hopeful look on his face there was no way Jane would disappoint him. So of course he didn't, throwing theme each boxes of their own, though different in shape than the ones he'd presented me and Van Pelt. Inappropriate or not, I couldn't help laughing at the expressions on their faces. Working with Jane is certainly entertaining. And at least the team is bonding. I decided to let this be one of the times I temporarily forgot about the rules, and just enjoyed Jane's antics. After all, everyone else seemed to.

xxxxx

"So you really won all this by memorizing cards?" I asked Jane after dinner. I admit that even after a working with him for a few months his abilities still fascinated me. Sometimes I'm still not entirely sure that he's not really psychic. "You didn't have cards up your sleeve or anything." It would seem to make more sense, and they always did it in the movies.

"No, that would be cheating." Right, and I'm sure you're always scrupulously honest. "Just memory."

"How? That's impossible." I don't care who you are. No way can you memorize all that. And I'm going to keep questioning you until you tells me how he did it. Jane seems to realize, and finally gives in. Besides, I may be the one asking, but I can tell everyone else is interested too.

Jane starts describing his memory palace, and how it lets him remember the order of the cards in the deck. No one seems to know exactly what he's talking about, but no one also seems to admit that and ask him. Until Lisbon glances subtly at Rigsby and the younger man caves. "Okay, what's a memory palace?" he asks, resigned to his fate.

Lisbon for her part looks amused. Sometimes I wonder just how much control she has over us. Sure Jane's manipulative, but Lisbon sure seems to know how to run a team. I turn my attention back to Jane as he replies. "It's a place that's so clear that you can walk around it in your head. Everybody's palace is different. Has to be big, and detailed and vivid. My palace is a mid-west carnival circuit I used to travel with my father."

"Your people are carnie folk. You're finally starting to make sense to me." I can't help but grin at that. It's taken me awhile to get used to Lisbon's sense of humour, but she can really be quite witty some of the time.

Jane too seems amused, rather than insulted. But then even though I still don't know exactly what their relationship is for all that I've been here a few months now, I do know that Jane understands Lisbon far better than I do. "Not exactly," he tells her, "It's a long story." Something about the way he says it makes it seem like he wouldn't mind telling her one day. "My point is, if the tenth card in the deck is a jack of hearts I see a devil-horned dancer at the Joplin, Missouri fairgrounds."

Cho decides to stay in the hand, while Lisbon laughingly gets up to go to the bar. I still don't understand how it works. But it seems to, because Jane knows exactly what the boys have.

"Alright guys, it's been fun playing dress-up, but playtime's over." Lisbon was back, and putting a damper on the fun.

"Sorry boss, whaddya mean?" Cho asked, although I had a sinking suspicion that I already knew.

"This." She said pointing to her necklace. "It's kind of a waste don't you think."

My face fell; I couldn't help it. My necklace was beautiful. But I dutifully moved to take off the earrings. She was probably right, much as it sucked. Jane certainly thought it did. "Well, I would have bought world peace if I could; they didn't have it at the casino gift store." For all that he was joking, he looked a little upset. "Very limited range of items for sale."

"You know what I mean." She told him, looking at him like her point was obvious and he knew it.

"I know those emeralds look lovely with your eyes." Had he been anyone else, or she been anyone else, I would have thought… but he managed to say it like it was simply a fact, like he didn't mean anything by it… like it was reason enough for her to keep his gift because he had no expectations.

"Thank you, it's beautiful. But, I can't keep it." And for the first time she looked like she actually wanted to.

Jane grinned, "I understand." I still don't know if he thought he'd be able to convince her to keep it. Probably hoped he could, but he certainly wasn't surprised.

"Yeah, you're right." I agreed. I certainly couldn't keep mine if Lisbon wasn't keeping hers. So I regretfully handed back the beautiful necklace before heading to my room with Lisbon. I wondered if the boys would give theirs back. And I wondered why Jane had bought everything in the first place. Surely there were better things to do with that kind of money, even if you couldn't buy world peace.

xxxxx

I wandered into my office the next morning idly thinking about the case. Still no real leads of course, but it was better than thinking about the fact that Jane had won thousands of dollars at a casino and then used it to by me an emerald necklace. Okay, so he didn't _only_ buy _me_ a necklace, he bought stuff for everyone, but the fact still stands, Jane bought me an extremely expensive piece of jewelry. He didn't buy himself a flashy car, or some other toy to play with. He spent it on us. Why? As much as I'd love to believe that it was just a spur of the moment nice thing from the crazy lunatic, if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that you always have to be wary of Jane's motivations.

Still, it _was_ a pretty necklace.

Luckily I was jarred from that train of thought by my phone ringing.

"Agent Lisbon. Oh hello Mrs. Myer. Of course we can meet later this morning to discuss anything you'd like. Would half an hour be convenient? Alright, we'll see you then."

Huh. She wants to come clean. Come clean about what exactly? I wonder what she's lying about? Or rather what she was lying about. Better bring Jane, he's basically a human lie detector anyways.

"Hey Lisbon."

"Where are you?" I'm actually surprised you're not here.

"Oh, just taking a walk."

"Anne wants to come clean." Still don't know about what but…

"I knew it. She had that air about her."

Exasperating man! "If you _knew_ it, why didn't you tell us?" That's what a team does Jane. They _share_ information. That's how stuff gets done.

"That's an exaggeration. I had a strong hunch. I told you about _every_ hunch you'd get very irritated."

I somehow manage to bite back my original response of "I get very irritated anyways. How would this be any different?" and settle for telling him to come in now so we can go talk to the grieving widow. After all, he's probably got a point. If he told me about every theory that goes threw his head I'd almost definitely kill him within a day.

xxxxx

It's really depressing the percentage of murder cases that involve an affair. Really. Just once I would like to have a case where nobody in the victim's family is having an affair with someone. Just once I would like to be able to rule out infidelity as a motive. Even if what Anne Myer says is true, and Mr. Myer had checked out of their marriage, that doesn't mean he was okay with her having an affair with one of his employees. And it doesn't mean that said employee was okay with being the other man in her life.

"So what do you think?" I asked Jane on our way to talk to Matt Étienne.

He shrugged. "Tough to say. She seemed to be telling the truth. She really thought her husband wouldn't care about the affair. Of course we can't ask him his opinion."

I acknowledged his point with a nod. "At least we can talk to Matt, see what he thought."

Jane grinned, "Absolutely." He seemed to thrive when he was busy entangling a web of lies, interesting considering his previous career choice really.

Shortly thereafter we pulled up to Matt Étienne's house, following him into his driveway.

He didn't seem all that surprised to see us. "I'm guessing that you're not just in the neighbourhood."

"Mr. Étienne, I have a warrant to search your property."

Jane was, as usual, distracted from the actual business of law enforcement. "That's a sweet boat." I ignored him. What did the man's boat have to do with anything anyways?

"You let that dealer, Alexandra Ye run her scam because she knew about you and Mrs. Myer, isn't that so? And she threatened to tell Mr. Myer if you fired her."

"That's about the size of it yeah." Well at least he's not bothering to deny it. That makes this easier.

"Why didn't you tell us you were involved with Mrs. Myer from the start? We were bound to find out." You certainly weren't hiding it.

"Because it's not pertinent. Jim knew that Anne was out of their relationship a long time ago. The two of them came to an understanding. He was married to his job, so what me and Anne had between us, it's nobody's business but our own." How very noble of you, but if it's all the same _I'll_ decide what's pertinent, thank-you very much.

Our conversation was interrupted by Jane, who'd noticed something while wandering around Matt's garage, looking at his stuff. Apparently someone carried something into Matt's garage and didn't take it out. Well, that's interesting, Étienne looks worried, and a bit shocked, but not really guilty I don't think. Jane unsurprisingly just looks amused. Like he's just discovered something important.

Like a dead body hidden in a freezer. Well, at least we know where the rest of Jim Myer is.

xxxxx

Étienne denied knowing that Jim Myer's body had been in his freezer, and considering his reaction I was inclined to believe him. He'd been having an affair with the man's wife, but I don't think he killed him. He did however tell us what the man had been doing before he died. Better go send the boys to find whatever tape he was watching.

xxxxx

Apparently tapes of his daughter meeting one of his clients at his room late at night in a somewhat compromising outfit. I've got to say, that certainly wasn't what I was expecting. Of anyone in the Myer family I'd have said she was the _least_ likely to have anything to do with her father's death. I wonder what she says about the video. This interrogation is going to require a delicate touch. I'm doing it myself. Effective as Cho is, he's not always that good at sympathy, Rigsby and Van Pelt are too inexperienced, and Jane's too animated. Besides, given the implications of her outfit, it might be easier to talk to a woman.

"Here's you arriving at Trask's hotel suite at 1:30 in the morning, and here's you leaving 45 minutes later. Care to comment on that?" I try to keep my voice as neutral as possible, especially given what it looks like.

"No, where did you get this?"

"From the way you're dressed, it appears that some sort of sexual transaction took place."

"No." Well she said that way too quickly for me to believe that. Besides, what else could she be doing alone in the man's room at that time of night?

But I decided to play along, keeping my tone light and non-judgmental "Okay, I was guessing. What did take place?" If there is another rational explanation, I'd be more than happy to believe you. Anything else makes this case way more depressingly sordid than it was already.

"Nothing." Again, the denial came too quickly. Not to mention you must see that if you can't give a reason why you were in that room I'm going to have to conclude that it was what it looked like.

"We looked into your financial situation, it's bad." That's actually an understatement. It's _really, really_ bad. "You and your husband are swimming in credit card debt. You've refinanced your house three times in the past two years. You've even had a car repossessed."

"We hit a rough patch." A _rough _patch? Either this woman's in denial or she desperately loves her husband, who, from what I've seen definitely doesn't deserve her faith in him. I guess we can all take a valuable lesson from this: don't marry a professional gambler.

"Jessica, your father was watching this video the night he died." I try to break it to her as gently as I can, because I still don't think she's involved, but I need her to understand the stakes here.

"Oh my god." And that's the first genuine thing she's said all evening.

"What does that make you think?"

"I don't know." Now she's scared. She _must _have some inkling of what this means though, mustn't she?

"Makes me think this video had something to do with his death."

xxxxx

Alright, what kind of idiot bets the poker chip he stole off of his dead father-in-law's body while playing with one of the men investigating the murder? Seriously? I've been doing this for about ten years now and that has got to be one of the dumber moves I've seen. I mean it, how stupid do you have to be? Sometimes this job makes me really depressed about the state of humanity. I wonder if he's even going to try to talk himself out of this one. "Tell us, how did you end up with Jim Myer's lucky poker chip?" This should be good.

"That night, as I was leaving, Jim followed me to the parking lot. He'd seen this tape with Jessica and Cal, and he knew I must have something to do with it. I said sure I did. Screw him. Like he was such a great husband and father you know? He called me a degenerate low-life pimp, fired me then and there, and he said he'd do everything in his power to get me out of Jessica's life. I couldn't let that happen. I remember the stories they told in the room about the mafia hit-men leaving a hand behind as a message, you know? I did it to make them think it was mob-related. I dumped the body at Matt's because I knew his affair with Anne would come to light." That's actually far cleverer than I gave him credit for. Although he would have been better to just bury the body somewhere in the desert. Who knows how long that would have taken to find. Not that I'm complaining mind you. I hope this jerk goes to jail for a good long time. First he bets the sexual favours of his wife, and then he kills her father? I really wish I had an excuse to punch that look off of his face..

"Did your wife have anything to do with this?"

"No. No! She had nothing to do with this. Idiot never suspected it was me. How's that for denial? How did you know it was me?" _You bet the victim's lucky poker chip you moron._ Oh, you meant before that. Can I just cite overall creepiness and be done with it. Of course Jane has another answer,

"So when you're searching for a killer, the degenerate gambler in the room is a good person to look at." I almost smirk at that. Rules to live by.

"I'm not a degenerate. I'm a professional. I'm just having a streak of bad luck."

"Yes you are." And I hope your streak is good and long. I only hope you haven't completely destroyed your wife's life as well as your own. This can't have been easy for her to watch. "Let's go."

xxxxx

I wandered into the break room after putting some files in the storage room. Rigsby and Cho were already there. "What's up guys?" I asked.

Cho looked up, "Oh, hey Van Pelt. We were wondering what Jane did with the money he won."

"Why don't you just ask him?" Seemed like the logical solution to me.

"We did." Rigsby told me.

"He said he _spent_ it." Cho added skeptically.

"All of it?" I asked. "On what?" I mean, I don't know exactly how much he won, but knowing Jane I bet it was a lot.

"Stuff apparently." Rigsby told me. "I bet it was a car."

"Then why wasn't he driving it?" Cho asked. "Jane hasn't even bought a new suit since I've known him. I doubt he bought a car."

"Maybe he lost it again at the casino." I suggested. After all, that is fairly common, especially when people get too confident like Jane.

But Rigsby disagreed. "No way. Not with his crazy memory tricks. I bet it's something disposable."

Cho grinned, "Yeah but what? Last time he didn't even spend the money on himself. He bought all of us presents. Not that the girls kept theirs."

"Wait, you guys _kept _yours? After Lisbon gave hers back?" I had to give mine back. I think they should have too. It's only fair.

The guys didn't even have the decency to look repentant. "Of course. Jane's right, there's nothing in the regulations saying he can't buy us presents." Rigsby defended their actions.

Cho added, "It's not our fault you followed Lisbon's lead and gave your necklace back."

I scowled. Then I considered something, "So maybe he bought more presents."

"But for who?" Rigsby asked. "Not for the three of us. And Jane never talks about anyone else. As far as I know Jane doesn't have any other friends outside the team."

Cho smirked, "So unless he bought _Lisbon_ another really expensive present she won't keep…" he trailed off, when Lisbon herself walked into the next room.

"Jane!" she called, waking him up, if he was really asleep.

"Yes Lisbon?" he asked with a smile. He certainly didn't seem to mind being disturbed.

"Can I have a moment of your time? If you're not too busy of course," she added sarcastically.

"Certainly. I am always at your disposal. You should know that by now."

She rolled her eyes at him, but she was smiling. Then pulling up a chair she started talking to him about something in a quieter tone. If I didn't know any better I'd have said it was almost intimate…

The guys and I exchanged glances. "No way," said Rigsby.

"I'm sure he just gave the money away or something," I added, in a voice that even I could tell didn't sound convinced.

Cho just shrugged and left the room. Rigsby and I followed after him. There was no way Jane had bought Lisbon another present worth hundreds of thousands of dollars… Was there?

xxxxx

TBC

Alright, so the length got away from me there a little bit. Quick question, is it too long? Should I split episodes into to parts if this happens again? Does it matter?


	8. Seeing Red

Alright, so I'm very sorry for the delay. I had the worst writers block for this chapter. Parts weren't coming out right, and I didn't know what to cut, and it got really long (still is actually). So I kind of gave up. But then I was gently prodded, so I gave it another go, and I finally got going. So here it is. Hope you like it.

Dedicated to lgmtreader for the (possibly necessary) prodding.

Chapter 8 – Seeing Red

What is it about guys and machines? As soon as Rigsby and Jane heard that we'd get to take the helicopter to our latest crime scene their faces just lit up like little boys. Even Cho looked excited, although he managed to contain his enthusiasm to a more reasonable level. I'd have mocked them if it hadn't been sort of sweet. I felt a little bit bad asking Van Pelt to stay behind, but she understood, pointing out that if I asked any of the guys to miss out on something as spectacular as a _helicopter ride,_ I'd never hear the end of it. Ah, the perks of another female on the team.

I made sure to sit down beside Cho in the helicopter. I figured since Jane and Rigsby were so excited they could keep each other amused.

"I wonder if we get complimentary peanuts." Rigsby joked. "I've never been in one of these before."

"Well if you're a good boy and ask very nicely maybe the pilot will let you sit up in the cockpit with him." I told him indulgently.

Rigsby looked embarrassed and Jane laughed. Cho snorted, "Nah he's too excited. Wouldn't want him hitting something on the control panel by accident. Best he stays back here where he can't get into too much trouble."

"You're probably right. Here Rigsby." I told him as tossed him a pack of peanuts. At his questioning look I just shrugged, "Grabbed 'em from the vending machine on my way out."

"Hey thanks boss!" he grinned at me.

"And did Mother Lisbon buy the rest of us anything?" Jane asked from the other site of the copter.

I glanced between him and Cho, who looked amused and hopeful at the same time, before sighing and pulling out a couple more packages of peanuts. "I'm not your mother Jane. But yes."

I nodded in response to their chorus of thank-yous before pulling out my own packet of licorice. If they had any complaints they could stuff them. Should have brought their own snacks anyways.

When we met the detective at the scene he seemed to have everything under control. A little irritated at having to share his case, but that's what happens when a friend of the governor gets murdered. At least he was competent. And possibly flirting with me. It's hard to be sure sometimes. And far more trouble than it's worth to do anything about it usually. After a couple of awkward situations in the past I figured out real fast that it's usually best not to get too _friendly_ shall we say with the local law enforcement you meet up with. It could make later cases… interesting.

He was filling us in on the background information on our victim. Widowed, two children. Daughter away at school, son missing. The son had a prior criminal record, but pretty small stuff. Nothing anywhere close to murder. I was just asking if anyone knew where Mrs. Tennant had been when a woman walked up from behind Jane. "She was with me." Suddenly the stranger had everyone's attention.

"And who are you exactly?" I asked.

"My name is Christina Frye. I was Rosemary's spiritual advisor." Spiritual advisor? What exactly do you mean by… _Oh no._

"I'm sorry, did I hear that correctly?" Jane asked in that patronizing tone of his.

He's _already_ pulling the patronizing tone? Even though we just got here I think I might have to quit. Or, as an alternative, I suppose I could just try and regain control of the conversation. "Ms. Frye you were with her where?"

"At my house. We'd finished a session. We'd contacted her husband."

Okay, so just to clarify, "Her _dead_ husband."

Jane let out a sigh of disbelief from beside me. Even if I actually share his opinion in this case, some of us don't have the luxury of provoking every second person we meet. I learned early on that the best way to be good at my job was to try to maintain as open a mind as possible.

Ms. Frye either hadn't noticed the disbelief in my voice, or she wasn't bothered by it. "He knew this was going to happen to her. He warned her that she was putting herself in terrible danger."

Pointedly ignoring the looks of disbelief that now all of the men around me were throwing me I gamely continue on with my line of questioning. Crazy or no, so far this woman is the only lead we have. "From whom?"

"I don't know. I'm merely a channel." _Right._

"A channel for what?" Jane asked. Alright, that was actually a fair question. I would have appreciated a slightly less condescending tone, but a fair question nonetheless.

"For the energy of the departed souls."

"Okay. Oh, so you knew that this murder was gonna happen?" Jane clarified.

"I didn't know, her husband knew. I just passed the warning along to Rosemary."

And apparently that was enough to convict her in Jane's eyes. "Okay, got it. By her own admission she's either a channel for the energy of the departed souls, or she's involved in this murder. So you've got a choice, we can call ghostbusters or we can take this lady downtown." Okay, I may be smirking, but his blatant skepticism and hostility _is_ pretty funny. I think this woman's almost _flustering_ Jane. I take it back, no _way _am I quitting this case. This is going to be fun.

In my calmest voice, like her story was the most reasonable thing I'd ever heard, I asked, "Ms. Frye would you mind coming down to our office in the morning and answering a few more questions in detail?"

"If I could be of any help I'd be glad to. Please call me Christina." When Jane laughed she turned to him, "Where's all this anger I feel coming from."

"Not from me. Maybe you're projecting."

"Rosemary was my friend. Am I sad? Of course. Am I angry? Only that someone would do such a terrible thing to her. Don't take this the wrong way but you are completely misreading the situation."

I could almost hear the gauntlet being thrown down. I half expected Jane to start spouting facts about her childhood to prove her wrong. But Jane never seems to respond like other people would. Instead he just seemed amused

"I am, am I? Oh this going to be good."

Yes, yes it will be. If it's not a complete disaster of course.

xxxxx

I had Van Pelt sit in on our interview with Christina Frye. It'd be a good learning experience for her. Sometimes I worry that she's a bit too credulous. It'll also be a good time for her to see some of the other side of Jane's personality, something I'm still not sure she's totally aware of yet.

Between Jane and I we got the technicalities out of the way first, like how long Christina'd been seeing Rosemary, how much she charged, how often the two met, the general tone of the sessions. Apparently Rosemary was troubled. Unsurprising given that her husband had died recently and then her son started acting out.

"What was troubling her?" Van Pelt asked.

"Her husband was a powerful anchor in her life. After his death I think she felt adrift, vulnerable." I couldn't help glancing at Jane to see how he was taking this. Talk about an extreme reaction to a loved one's death. "People that she shouldn't have trusted recognized her weaknesses and preyed on them."

"Oh really." Jane said skeptically.

"Any people in particular?" I asked. They'd certainly make a good suspect.

"Too many to mention. As a result I think her relationship with her children may have suffered."

But Ms. Frye refused to give us any more details about the victim's relationship with her children.

"Truly I'd love to help you but my practice is bound by the same client confidentiality codes that all doctors abide by."

"You have a professional therapist's license with the state?" I asked. I almost couldn't believe it. A certified spiritual advisor?

"Your client's dead." Jane pointed out.

"Her earthly vessel is dead. When her soul completes its journey I could ask her if it's alright to share what went on in her sessions in more detail. I recorded all of her sessions on CD. If she says yes, I'll give them to you."

I couldn't resist sharing another skeptical look with Jane. This woman _must_ know how this _sounds_ right? I mean, I'm not sure that I'd be willing to say with 100% certainty that what she's describing could _never_ happen, but let's just say I maintain a healthy level of skepticism towards this sort of thing. I mean, you've got to figure most of the people who claim to be psychic are faking it.

"Why bother with that? Why not just ask her who killed her?" Jane asked.

"Of course I will, but she may not know. Death doesn't grand omniscience."

"You're good." Jane told her.

"I like to think so," Christina admitted frankly.

"Yes you do."

And there they were, squaring off against each other again. For some reason Jane thought it would be a good idea to challenge her to read him.

And Christina Frye rose to the challenge admirably. "I think you act assured and arrogant, but inside you are troubled with deep guilt and self-loathing. A recent trauma in your past perhaps? But you're more than a little unstable." She turned to me, "You have your work cut out for you." Well that hit a little too close to home. Why on earth would Jane provoke her? What good could it do? What did he _think_ she was going to say? Especially since he's just acknowledged she's good at what she does, which I gather is very similar to what he used to do.

"You are good." Van Pelt told her approvingly. Well, yes, _of course_ she's good! She gets people to give her five hundred dollars an hour for this! Doesn't mean she's not lying though.

Jane certainly thinks so. "Please, not to boast, but I am quite a well known horrible tragedy. A mere half hour on the internet would tell you that I'm consumed with guilt and self-loathing."

"One look in your eyes'll tell me that. And what makes you think I would spend any time researching you on the internet? A little self involved maybe?" Christina Frye grinned at Jane one last time before turning back to me, "May I go?"

"Yes. Thank-you for your time."

"Fell free to call me. Anytime."

"We will."

I grinned. I have to say, I think the first round goes to the fake spiritual advisor. Jane on the other hand wasn't so thrilled with my reaction, "What?" he asked.

I didn't say anything. That'd bother him more than anything. "What Lisbon?" he asked again.

"Nothing." I told him, as innocently as possible. I didn't even bother to try and hide my grin. In truth I may have smiled even wider.

"What? She's good. I'll give her that, but she's not as good as she thinks she is."

"Well, I guess you'd be the one to know." I told him, careful to keep my expression innocent.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He demanded.

Oh this was fun. Jane _was_ flustered. Best case ever. "Well of the three of us you'd be the one most likely to have come in contact with people like her wouldn't you? Besides, you're the one we pay to read people."

"Yes. Yes you do. And she's involved Lisbon. Count on it."

"Okay." I told him with a shrug of my shoulders. "If you say so."

"You're not telling me you believe her? Lisbon she's a fraud."

"Maybe." I told him. "But it doesn't mean she's a murderer."

"Well, no. But she's still a likely suspect."

"Which is why we'll keep an eye on her." I told him, as condescendingly as possible. "Why don't you go make yourself a cup of tea and try and calm down? I've got to go update Minnelli."

"I just hope she doesn't try to skip town. Wait a minute why would I need to calm down? I'm perfectly calm."

"Of course you are." I called over my shoulder on the way to my office.

"Lisbon, I'm perfectly calm. I was in control the whole time. Lisbon?"

Yup. Best case _ever._

xxxxx

Well, Jane's reaction to the psychic wasn't all that unexpected given his opinion on the supernatural in general. His absolute close-mindedness is always a bit shocking of course. How a person can be that sure I'll never know. It's one thing _not _to believe, it's another to be so convinced you're right that you belittle the opinion of anyone who disagrees with you.

I don't care what Jane says, I think it's possible. If there's an afterlife then it stands to reason that it might be possible to contact people there. After all, you never know what people are capable of. I can't imagine not believing in miracles.

And he was so tactless. I felt a bit badly for him when Christina pegged him so accurately. Not that he'd ever admit defeat of course. But that couldn't have been easy to hear. At least the boss seems to have a bit more open mind, or she's pretending to. I'm not sure exactly what she thinks of the whole thing, except for being amused at Jane of course. But that happens fairly frequently anyways, so that's nothing to go by.

Well, whatever he says, Jane won't convince me. He won't make me as jaded as he is. I've seen things that I can't explain. And I believe Christina, though I might be the only one.

xxxxx

I decided to take Rigsby and Jane with me to the Tennant house. Until recently Travis and Rosemary lived there along with a semi-permanent tenant, Jeremy Hale, Mrs. Tennant's boyfriend. Hale is suspiciously cheerful for the first half of the interview. He does confirm Travis' drug use, and tells us the boy's probably staying with a friend. Somehow he doesn't come across as exactly trustworthy though. Before he can tell us anything else I hear my name bellowed from another room, "Lisbon!"

It seems Jane has found Hale's studio. The man certainly doesn't seem to mind Jane examining his work. Especially when it results in complements.

"She really was quite beautiful." Jane told him, holding up a photo of Rosemary. "You really captured so much in her eyes. It's like she's talking to us."

"Rosemary was an easy subject, and those photos still don't do her justice."

Rigsby, unlike Jane, was more focused on the practicalities. "This is quite a set-up"

He had a point, "Dark room, state of the art equipment. It's nice to have a benefactor." I remarked casually.

"I'm blessed," Hale agreed easily.

"Or clever." Jane corrected. "You say that Travis left because he and his Mom had a fight. You sure about that?"

"Well of course, I was there."

But Jane proceeded to throw suspicion on that statement, pointing out some fairly convincing evidence that this had once been Travis' room, and, rather suspiciously, also the location of a fairly recent fight.

"Only question is, did you take his room as soon as he left, or did he _leave_ because you took his room?" Jane asked in conclusion. Hale looked plenty uncomfortable, of course Jane _was _invading his personal space. Still, I was perfectly happy to let my consultant run with this, sure he'd be able to figure out what Hale was hiding. He's handy like that sometimes.

Not that Jane actually needed Hale to tell him what had happened. Seems he'd already figured everything out. "So you kick him out of here, he has to find some place safe, some place to hide where you can't find him."

"So where'd he go?" Rigsby asked.

Jane seemed to be watching Jeremy's body language for the answer. After a few seconds he pointed to the floor above us.

Jane went up before us, but Rigsby and I followed with Jeremy out of politeness.

"Yeah, it's here on the right" he told us. "He was happier in a smaller room."

"Yeah I bet." Rigsby remarked sarcastically.

"Excuse me, there's a definite note of uncalled for hostility in your voice. What is that about?"

Ever the peacemaker I stepped between the two men. "He's just trying to do his job." And based on what we've heard I think there might be some cause for hostility.

xxxxx

The daughter, Clara Tenant, on the other hand, seemed pretty torn up about the whole thing. At least I was able to tell her that we'd found her brother. She was none too happy that Travis had to be interrogated before she could speak to him, but she understood. Jane offered to let her watch from behind the glass with him. I couldn't see the harm so I agreed. Jane knew me well enough now that he wouldn't let her interrupt until I was finished.

Still it was going to be difficult to strike the right balance with Travis Tennant. I didn't want to go too easy on him if he was guilty, but on the other hand he might not be, and the poor kid had just lost his Mom, and now had a jerk living in his house. I decided to start as sympathetically as possible. Besides, if I started off non-threatening we might get more. "Travis, we know why you took off. We know about your fight with Jeremy. Why didn't you call somebody? Why just run?"

"Because there wasn't anything they could do. I don't want to cause any more trouble."

"Cause any more trouble for who? They're your family."

"You really don't understand. Look, I love my Mom, so much, but after the bout with Jeremy I couldn't go back there. There was no way."

"So where'd you go?" I asked.

"Friend's houses mostly."

Cho cut in, "We'll need names and addresses."

The kid seemed pretty torn up, but he was still one of our more likely suspects. "Here's the truth Travis. After your Dad died your Mom gave away a lot of your money then she moved Jeremy into the house and made your life miserable."

Cho took up the mantle again, "So even though you took off you knew where she'd be that night. You knew how she'd walk home."

"You think I did this? When my Dad died, Mom was all I had. You don't think I wanted to be there for her? That dirtbag Jeremy moves in. He starts telling me what to do and bossing me around. She was my Mom. I didn't kill her."

Jane let the sister in then. She immediately moved to comfort her brother and reassure him. Jane for some reason seemed to find this amusing. I didn't ask. I really hope those friends check out though. If this kid's innocent I don't have to arrest him for murdering his own mother.

xxxxx

"Travis is hurting." I remarked to Lisbon. Poor boy, losing both parents so young.

Sadly she was more cynical, "Or he's lying. Let's not forget Jeremy Hale stood to inherit a few million himself."

"So?" I asked. What did that have to do with Travis lying?

"Maybe he wanted to speed up the process. Finance a nice long photo shoot in South America, lay low for a while." She was right, Hale certainly sounded like a more viable suspect, not to mention a big jerk.

Rigsby had another theory though. Apparently Rosemary had put Christina Frye in her will. He and Jane seemed to think practically confirmed her guilt. And okay, so maybe it looked bad, but I still wasn't convinced, "Christina told us she knew in advance Rosemary was in danger. Why would she tell us that if she was guilty?"

Of course Jane had an answer. "How diabolically clever of her. Make us dismiss her as a suspect because she made herself look like one."

"Or maybe, just maybe, she has a rare and precious gift." It is possible. Miracles do happen despite Jane's open scorn and Rigsby's eye roll.

"A rare and precious gift. Tell me, who gets these gifts anyhow? And how come no one ever has the gift for seeing horse race results? And how come dead people always talk such tedious drivel?

"Play nice. Van Pelt's entitled to her opinion." Lisbon cut in. I still wasn't exactly sure where she stood on the issue, but at least she was tolerant enough respect not to mock things she couldn't explain.

Jane on the other hand didn't know the meaning of the word. "Not if it's wrong. This is like believing in the Easter Bunny."

"Who says there's no Easter Bunny?" Rigsby asked.

Suddenly my phone rang, meaning I didn't have to answer Jane's silly questions. Because believing in the possibility of an afterlife is on _exactly_ the same level as believing in story told to small children on the holidays. "Van Pelt."

"Good morning Agent Van Pelt. It's Christina Frye."

"Oh hi!"

"I think I'm picking up on some information for you if you're interested. Could you meet me at my office?"

"Wow, thanks! Got it! I'll be right over." She has information. Hopefully this'll take Jane down a peg or two.

"That was Christina,"

"Oh?" Jane asked, pretending to be interested.

"She said she's picking up on something. Something that might help us."

"Why don't you go talk to her?" Lisbon told me. "I'm coming." Jane said immediately.

"Does he have to?" I asked. I don't care if I sound like a child. Last thing I need is Jane facing off the woman he's decided is his rival.

"If she's conning us we need to know." Lisbon pointed out. It may have been a rational point, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear.

"She isn't, I can tell."

Lisbon didn't answer, but she did tell Jane to behave as we left.

xxxxx

I watched them go. Okay, so I was a little worried about sending Van Pelt alone with Jane. The man wasn't exactly known for his sensitivity, and this was a touchy subject for him. For both of them actually.

"Think they'll be alright boss?" Rigsby asked me.

"They'll be fine." I told him as confidently as I could. "Van Pelt needs to learn how to deal with Jane sometime."

"Yeah, but with a psychic? I mean, you know how he is about stuff like that. And she's got some pretty strong views as well…" He trailed off.

"Well, they'll just have to come to some sort of compromise won't they?" I asked him.

"I guess…" He still looked worried about it though. His concern was sweet, even if I could encourage him in it.

Instead I just grinned, "Don't worry about it. If it comes to it I'm sure she could kick his ass."

Rigsby grinned back, "That's true. Good point boss."

"Thanks. Now get back to work."

"Whatever you say."

xxxxx

Jane actually wasn't too dismissive on the car ride over. He decided to occupy himself giving me directions, which I didn't need, but since I preferred them to snide remarks I decided to just go along with it.

"Now, could you at least _try_ to have an open mind?" I asked him as we pulled up to the house.

"No point." He told me. "No such thing as psychics."

I sighed, "Well, could you at least _try_ not to antagonize her as much as possible. Even if it doesn't come from another plane of existence, she still might have helpful information."

"Especially if she's guilty," Jane agreed cheerfully.

I sighed again as I opened the door. "Miss Frye?" I called.

"Be right there. Take a seat please." I heard over an intercom.

Like everything else about this, Jane thought that was funny. "Madame Zoltar welcomes you. Hmm. I smell dead people."

"Jane," I admonished, as I looked at the photo in the waiting room. I don't know that I'd want a photo of myself up in my office, but I guess in her line of work it might be a good idea. Jane seemed to find the décor even more amusing than I did, claiming her mirror was one-way glass. Before I could stop him he was running into a back room to prove it to me. I tried not to be too amused when he was wrong. "See, no one-way glass." I told him.

"Well maybe in this instance, but not as a general observation."

Then Christina herself arrived. "Shall we sit down?"

Jane started right in on the inconsistency between her persona and her office as soon as we were settled. Christina was calm, calmer than I would have been. Told him he should know better than most that a certain image came with the territory. Jane seemed pleased she'd taken the time to research him.

"I have now. Red John murdered your family. I'm very sorry for your loss. Is that why you gave up your calling?"

"Calling? Is that what this is?"

"Yeah. Calling, gift, there's no doubt that you have it. Why'd you give it up?"

"It was the suits, chaffing horrible."

To my shock Christina laughed, "Always dancing, why is that?"

"Don't try to cold read me."

"Oh, I wouldn't know how."

"We both know that's a lie."

I thought I better jump in before it got even uglier, "Can we um, talk about the case?"

They both turned to me and agreed, but I think they'd both almost forgotten I was even there. Great impression for a CBI agent to make really.

"So, has Rosemary contacted you yet?" Jane asked.

"No, not yet. It often takes some time for souls to make a full transit."

"Yes, the celestial bus is running late."

But that proved to be the last straw for Christina, "I called to offer you my assistance, clearly you're not interested."

I needed to take charge of the conversation, and quickly. "Wait. I'm the agent here," I said with a nod to Jane. No wonder Lisbon was constantly telling people he was only a consultant. "We are interested."

So Rosemary told me about her vision. It took me a minute to figure out what it meant, but in the end I think it was useful. And now we have a place to look for the missing murder weapon. Take that Jane.

xxxxx

Cho and I went to go meet Jane and Van Pelt at the reservoir. Sure enough that's where the car was. Turns out it was Rosemary's car. And Travis was one of its more frequent users. Course, as Van Pelt points out, Jeremy would've had access to it as well. Hopefully someone somewhere caught a photo of one of them driving it.

Seems the detective had already made up his mind though. "You guys gonna arrest Travis Tennant, or you want us to?"

"I'm sorry detective; everything we have right now is circumstantial." Even if it does look bad for the kid.

"Well, I go with my gut. 90% of the time if it feels right, it's meant to be."

"What about the other 10%?" I couldn't help asking. He didn't answer.

Then it was Jane's turn to make unfounded accusations, "If anyone needs arresting, it's Christina Frye. She knew that Rosemary was in danger. She knew where to find the car, the murder weapon. Which means that she either does have supernatural powers or she was involved in the crime."

Oh for Pete's sakes. That's a stretch even for him. I didn't even bother to try to hide my amusement, at least this case was offering some entertainment value, "Come on. She simply did what you do so well. With an air of confidence she made an educated guess. Where else would you dump a car around here? She's a good guesser."

"Well, yes." He admitted petulantly. "That's a possibility too."

"Yes, and that's what you object to isn't it? Not that she's a con artist, but that she's so good at it. Maybe even better than you." Somehow seeing Jane flustered almost makes up for all the times he's done something similar to me without even trying.

He even tried to deny it, "Not at all. Alright yes. Not better than me mind you." Of course not, if your ego needs it that way. "But she is good, and it's the good ones that are the most dangerous." No kidding. You don't need to tell me that.

Van Pelt interrupted us, "Excuse me but you might consider the possibility that she's actually honestly in touch with something beyond your understanding." Oh not this argument again please. I was hoping you two would have gotten it somewhat out of your system over the last hour or so.

"That would be golf, and musical theatre of the 30s and 40s." Okay, so clearly Van Pelt's going to have to be the bigger person here.

Oh, Cho's just walked up with a reason to interrupt them. A reason to interrupt them that's relevant to the case. Bless that man. Huh, photography equipment in the truck. Looks like we're going to need to have another chat with Jeremy.

xxxxx

Who was no longer living at the Tennant house. I called Rgisby, told him to put out an APB and notify the airports. Course Jane immediately told me he wasn't on a plane.

"How do you know."

Because he'd left behind a room full of photographs. Well, I suppose that made sense, unless he really was a murderer, in which case I think I'd just make a run for it. I would. But then again I'm not an artist.

But Jane's already moved on. There's one photo taken in the last year that's not of Rosemary. It is of a young woman though. And there is quite a bit of damage. Apparently the photo is intimate. I don't really see it, but I'll go with it.

"A woman's heel would make a whole like that wouldn't it?" he asked me.

"Yes." I agreed.

"Being that it's Rosemary's house we can assume it's Rosemary's heel."

"I'm still with you."

"Why would Rosemary want to put her heel in this nice young woman's picture that was taken by her womanizing boyfriend Jeremy?"

Ah.

xxxxx

"Hey boss, check this out." Rigsby called to Lisbon when she wandered back towards the bullpen after interrogating Jeremy Hale. Apparently people leave Christina in their wills quite frequently. Lisbon suggests a business relationship with Jeremy. Oh I really hope she's not in league with that idiot.

"That doesn't prove anything." I told them. I don't know why I was so sure Christina was genuine. I just was. Maybe it was because everyone was so dead set against her, but I believed.

"But it's a good place to start a conversation with Frye," Lisbon told me matter-of-factly.

I suppose that's true. Even if I don't like it. But I know one thing, unless Lisbon orders me I'm not sitting through another tête-à-tête with her and Jane. Oh good. Lisbon's sending Cho. They should both enjoy that.

xxxxx

Maybe a little too much. Jane has decided to fake a séance at the reading of the will, including a visit from Rosemary herself. I'm sorry, but there are certain things you just don't mess with.

"I don't like it." I told Rigsby later. And I was shocked that Lisbon had decided to allow it. I would have thought it would go against regulations or something. I guess like much of what Jane does it's in a grey area, at least legally. Morally I'm pretty sure this one's pretty clear cut.

"Me neither. What's the alternative?" Rigsby asked me.

Alternative? Who cares about the alternative? Surely there's something better than this. "It's immoral."

"I don't know about that. They say your brain gets cooked if you use them a lot. Make you infertile too."

"What are you _talking_ about?" I asked him, completely confused.

"Microwaves. What are you talking about?"

"The séance this evening." I couldn't keep the disbelief out of my voice. We were dabbling in the occult, messing with things we had no business messing with and he thought I was worried about using a _microwave_? I mean, he's a nice guy and all, but sometimes I just don't know.

"Well we were looking at the microwave. The séance has nothing to do with anything."

"It's wrong to play with that stuff. Raising the dead."

Jane jumped in. "Uh, we're not actually going to be doing that. Raising dead people."

"You say that, but you don't know. You're mocking the occult. You don't have any belief in the afterlife. You don't know what you're getting into." I pointed out for what felt like the thirtieth time since the start of this case.

"Well, I know that séances are tools that con-artists like Christina use to manipulate people."

"Boo!" Rigsby said in my ear. I jumped, I admit it. And suddenly I wanted nothing more than to wipe the smug smirks off both of their faces. I know my beliefs aren't popular around here, especially with Jane. I know he likes to tease, but excuse me for thinking some things should be treated with at least a modicum of respect, or at least of caution.

"Yeah laugh. Go ahead. It's really important to you that Christina's a fake isn't it? Because if she's not, if she does have a gift, everything you mock, everything you discredit, everything you stand for gets turned upside down."

"Um, yeah, true. Unlikely but true," he admitted with a smile.

"And what if your family's looking down at you tonight from the séance, trying to talk to you but they can't because you won't believe."

"Well that would be very sad," he answered, all trace of fun gone from his expression.

"I'm sorry." I told him, and I was.

"No that's okay." Rigsby and I both left pretty quickly after that. Part of me can't believe I said that, but part of me is glad that I stood up to him. I just wish there'd been another way of going about it.

xxxxx

Well, Jane was right as usual. Clara did do it. She didn't even bother to try and deny it after the séance. Got that's going to be fun to write up in my case report. Some of those things would make us the laughing stock of the whole department, if our success rate wasn't so high of course.

Anyways, apparently the poor girl lost it when her mother told her about the plans to disinherit her brother for his own good. I can't blame her for getting mad, but running your mother over with your car because she decides not to answer her cell phone when you call? Seems a bit extreme to me.

But she's trying to justify it as loyalty to her brother. "I did it for Travis," she told me.

"And for yourself." I told her. After all, mom giving away all your money to crooks couldn't have made you happy.

"She said that she would protect us! She promised my dad that she would. Parents are supposed to protect their kids," she cried out distraught.

"Yes they are." I told her quietly, trying not to look at Jane's face as we allowed her to go speak to her brother. This case certainly has hit a couple of sore spots for the poor man. I almost feel sorry for him.

xxxxx

I was heading back to my office when I saw Christina Frye leave the bullpen. I decided to change direction and check on Jane instead. Who knows what I'd find there. I arrived just in time to see Van Pelt close the door behind a sobbing Jane giving him his privacy. Oh God, this was far worse than I'd thought. What on earth had that woman done? She'd better hope we never cross paths on another one of our cases. No one plays games with my team, not games designed to hurt them at least. I mean, sure, Jane probably deserved a bit of a smackdown, but this? Even if he does need to deal with his past, what gives her the right to try to force the issue? If I ever find out she did this deliberately…

At least Van Pelt knew enough not to try to comfort him. And she gave him his privacy. I almost smiled. Jane had probably been almost as irritating towards the junior agent over the course of the case as he had been towards the self-proclaimed spiritual advisor, but despite it all Grace had somehow managed to find some compassion.

As Van Pelt turned from closing the door, I stepped further into the room so that she noticed me.

Well, the current circumstances were pretty tragic, but at least Van Pelt had an idea now about how dark Jane really was now. "You have to tread carefully there Grace," I told her softly.

She nodded back in understanding, "Is he going…?"

"I'll stay," I told her. Not here of course. In my office, doing paperwork. As I usually did after a case.

She went to leave, "Boss, before, I mean… before the séance, in the break room… I said something… To Jane I mean… I probably shouldn't have but,"

I cut her off, "Don't worry about it."

"But…"

"Grace, he drives people to distraction. Intentionally. Everyone knows it. I know it. Rigsby knows it. Cho knows it. Even Jane knows it. And every so often you have to strike back in self-defence. Whatever you said, Jane knew you weren't trying to be cruel. You were just fed up. Besides he probably deserved it."

"Okay." She paused, "Do you want me to, I mean I could…"

"Go home." I told her quietly. "I appreciate it, but go home. Trust me, he wouldn't want you here."

She nodded. "Night boss."

"Night Van Pelt." As she turned to leave I called her back, "And Van Pelt, cheer up. At least we solved the case."

She smiled a bit then. "Yeah, I guess we did."

I didn't say anything else. Just went to my office and started on some paperwork. And when Jane walked by my office about a half an hour later I called out a quick goodnight, just as I'd done hundreds of times before. And when he wished me the same, and told me not to work to late, his voice sounded almost normal. Neither of us mentioned the case. And when I found a single iris on my desk the next morning, neither of us mentioned that either.

xxxxx

Oh, and people have again asked me to state who's POV it is at the start of the sections. I would prefer not to, but if it's really confusing I will start. So I'm going to ask again, are people having trouble figuring out who's speaking?


	9. The Thin Red Line

So a couple of things, this one's a bit shorter, a bit less detailed. Mainly because I don't really like this episode. Also, I couldn't really think of that much to write, and somewhat problematically, Van Pelt's barely in the episode at all. Of course that meant it didn't take that long to write. No idea when the next one'll be up. Probably not that quickly.

Episode 8: The Thin Red Line

Minelli called me from the crime scene. My boss's presence tipped me off that this wasn't going to be just another case. So I grabbed Jane and Van Pelt and headed over right away. When we got there Minelli filled me in on the details. Joe Purcell, the state's witness against the biggest chrystal meth dealer in Davis, Rick Karis, found shot along with a woman, Patrice Maddigan, in a hotel room late last night. My boss was also careful to stress that we had to work with the Davis P.D. on this one, since they were as still investigating the Karis case. Something I personally had no problem with of course, but Jane didn't always play well with others. I put on my gloves and went to have a look around when my Minelli drew my attention to an unmarked bag of white powder. He assumed cocaine, but Jane disagreed. The consultant was right of course, and immediately after pointing that out, Jane walked quickly to the female victim's car.

And emerged holding a baby. "Hello!" I cooed from the other side of the car, deciding to ignore for a moment the whole other layer of problems a newly orphaned child had just added to an already complicated case. After all, she was a rather adorable baby. Oh God. An adorable baby who'd been in that car alone _overnight_. Thank goodness it hadn't been parked in the sun and the temperature wasn't too high, because otherwise there might have been a third victim to last night's crime.

Minelli went to go inform social services about the kid, while Van Pelt went to go check the crime scene for anything that might be of use to social services when they got here. I stayed with Jane and the poor little girl. I still couldn't believe how placid she was about the whole thing. Unsurprisingly Jane was good with kids, even if seeing him with one was kind of tragic. Still, he didn't seem too affected by it, so I didn't let it worry me too much. The pair of them did look cute together.

"So what happens to her?" he asked suddenly.

"Social services have foster moms who specialize in babies. They'll take care of her until we can find Patrice's family." Not a perfect system by any means, but it got the job done.

"If she has a family," he clarified. Yes, okay that was true. But it was all that we could do. Besides, most people tended to have families of some kind. Just because she was friends with a drug dealer didn't mean she didn't have loving parents somewhere who could raise their granddaughter. It was possible, and until I hear otherwise I'm choosing to believe that's the case.

Still, Jane seemed a bit reluctant to hand the baby over to social services. She was a sweetheart, but it needed to be done. Now that little Kaylee was taken care of we needed to get down to business.

"Lisbon, Jane and Van Pelt." my boss made the introductions to two men who I assumed must be from the Davis P.D. "Detectives Blakely and Presciado. Davis Homicide. They will be your liaisons with Davis P.D."

Jane noted that the first responder and one of our new liaisons had the same last name. Turned out they were father and son. Good old cop families. Despite my boss's call to work harmoniously it seemed to me that the two detectives from Davis were worried we were going to swoop in and steal their case.

"Listen, just so we're clear," Detective Blakely told me, "you can call us liaisons if you like, but this is still a Davis P.D. case. Our narcotics unit's been trying to bust Rick Karis for years."

Why do I have a feeling all of the cooperation's going to have to come from my side? Ah diplomacy, my old friend. "We appreciate your position. Have you checked the liquor store over there for surveillance cameras?" You never know, might get lucky.

"Not yet." Detective Presciado told me. "We're still questioning the guests." So I sent Van Pelt over.

Jane decided to make his presence known, "I got a dumb question. How come you guys let Joe Purcell slip away?"

Oh God. What's the opposite of diplomacy? Besides Jane of course. I needed to jump in before they did, "Hey stuff happens right?"

"Yeah, stuff happens." Presciado agreed condescendingly.

But then his partner topped him in the condescension department, "Yeah when we bring in Rick Karis we'll give you a call."

"You're confident it was Karis who did this?" I asked. Are we going to even _look_ at anyone else just out of curiosity? "Purcell seems like the type of man who had quite a few enemies."

"Yeah, we're confident." Presciado told me.

Jane had another theory, "What if Purcell wasn't the target? What if the girl was the target?"

"What makes you think that?" Blakely asked him.

"What makes you think she wasn't?" It was a fair point, but maybe not the best way of making it.

"Either way, she's the place to start with the investigation." I told them. "Now she was only here for a moment so the shooter came in as soon as she arrived, which suggests that he or they followed her here. So we'll retrace her steps. What's Patrice Maddigan's current address?"

"Don't know. We checked the address on her license and registration, but she hasn't lived here for several months." Blakely told me.

Presciado jumped in angrily. "You're making this more difficult than it needs to be. We _know _who done it. This was a hit ordered by Rick Karis. If he's in town we'll round him up. You guys relax, see the sights. We'll call you when there's any news." And with that our liaisons from the Davis P.D. left us in the motel parking lot.

Ah the spirit of goodwill and cooperation. Gotta love it. Of course, not that it was entirely their fault. "When are you going to learn to cool it without being told?" I asked the man sitting beside me.

"Oh come on, they pissed you off too, the sexist pigs."

"They _were_." I told him angrily.

He looked confused. "I just said they were."

"You were saying it ironically." I told him. You have no idea what it's like being a female in charge in law enforcement Jane. No idea.

He decided to change the subject and handed me a couple of magazines. "Here. There were a couple of issues of that in her car."

Why on earth would Patrice have bridal magazines in her car? Course, Jane was the one to point out that it didn't matter. They had a mailing address on them.

xxxxx

Patrice's roommate was pretty torn up by her death. I doubt she's a suspect. But she did give us some pretty useful information. Seems Karis had called Patrice to bring him some food and that's why she was at the motel that night. That would seem to support our theory that whoever killed both of them was following her. And Lacey also told us that Patrice always had money, and a knack for making little things like being arrested for drug possession go away. That was interesting, and I really didn't like the obvious implications. Lacey suspected a rich boyfriend. A rich boyfriend whose description matches about a million other people, but at least if we get a suspect we can compare.

Speaking of getting a suspect, Rigsby and Cho apparently got a lead on Karis. I tell them to let Davis P.D. know, and that Jane and I will meet them there.

"What's going on? What are they doing?" I asked Cho as Jane and I pulled up and saw that Davis P.D. was already going in.

"Detectives Blakely and Presciado wouldn't wait for the entry team." Cho told me as I put on my vest.

"We tried to talk to them but they wouldn't listen." Rigsby confirmed.

"They're out for blood." Cho added.

Oh great. Just great. I swear to god if anything happens to my team because of their idiocy I'll kill them myself. Luckily Cho was able to subdue Karis himself and not a member of the Davis P.D.

"That's our bust!" Presciado told me angrily. "Hand him over!"

"The hell we will. Walk away." No way am I giving him to you after the crap you've been pulling. Not to mention I think you guys might just kill him, mood you're in.

Back at the CBI Karis of course denied everything. Tried to play it all cool. God I'm sick of being condescended to by men today. So I can't resist telling Karis I'll just hand him right over to the Davis P.D. to talk to then, if he's got nothing to say to us. The flash of fear that appears in the man's eyes before he asks to speak to his lawyer makes me feel just that much better about this whole case.

And hey, at least I can always count on Cho to keep his cool, no matter what the other lunatics around m decide to do.

xxxxx

I'd been reviewing security tapes all day like Lisbon asked. Still hadn't found anything useful, but at least that meant I didn't have to deal with the hotheads on the Davis P.D. Today that was Lisbon's job, and I didn't envy it of her.

Suddenly I heard Jane call out that the food was here.

"Hawaiian." I observed when I saw the pizza. "Cho hates pineapple." I told him.

"Well he can take it off can't he?" Jane asked me.

"Uh, I guess. I don't complain when he and Rigsby order Mexican."

"What is it you don't like about Mexican?"

"Cilantro. Can't stand it. But I don't make a fuss." Unlike the rest of you, who can be such babies sometimes.

"No you don't do you? Why is that?" He asked me. Um, because I try to get along with the people around me? I thought that was obvious.

"Sometimes you have to go along to get along." I told him.

"It's nice to be nice, but if you want to get ahead in life sometimes you have to be a bitch. I know you know how."

"Gee thanks." I told him with a smile. Sometimes I wonder how much Jane thinks about the things he says and how people might take them, or if he really just doesn't care.

"It's all about the balance Grace. Yin, Yan. Nice. Bitch. Little bit of nice inside the bitch, little bit of bitch inside the nice."

"Yeah, I'll work on that."

"Keep 'em guessing." I couldn't help laughing. At least Jane wasn't boring.

Of course what's the first thing Cho says when he walks in? "There's pineapple on it."

"You can take it off." I told him.

"I'll know it's been there." Apparently Cho is afraid of getting pineapple germs. I've heard they're deadly, so he should be very concerned.

Lisbon ignored us and decided to get right to the case. Karis' alibi checked out. But, nobody really seemed to think he'd done it anyways, especially Jane. Apparently not his style. Which I'll buy I guess, but then who killed our two victims?

Turns out Jane had a theory about that as well. "I'm saying that maybe Patrice Maddigan was the target."

"That's the second time you've said that." Lisbon told him.

"Well, Patrice she was an attractive young woman, but didn't work, and had a regular supply of money from somewhere."

"Boyfriend." Cho supplied.

"And was able to make a very serious drug charge disappear." Jane added

"Cop boyfriend." Rigsby corrected.

"Skinny cop boyfriend with dark hair that drives a blue car if you listen to Lacey Wells." Jane concluded.

"Detective Presciado is skinny with dark hair." I pointed out.

"He had crossed my mind. _And_ a hot-tempered man as we now know. Who probably carries what a .38?"

"Yeah, yeah I think he does." Rigsby agreed.

"Joe and Patrice were shot with a .38." I couldn't help adding. Oh things were looking worse and worse for the detective from Davis.

"Yes they were." Cho agreed.

"_Slow down!_" Lisbon stopped us suddenly. "What's his motive?"

But Rigsby had that too. "Well it's a simple crime of passion isn't it? He comes upon the woman he loves with another man, kills them both _Oh damn._"

"He couldn't have been that surprised. I mean she had Joe Purcell's baby." I said though. I mean, hiding an affair is one thing, but hiding a _pregnancy?_

Jane interrupted us then to ask how Kaylie was doing. Like I would know. I assume she's fine. I mean, she's a baby. I'm sure social services know how to take care of her.

Cho's all for talking to Presciado, but Lisbon forces us to stop. She doesn't want to tick off the Davis P.D. any more than necessary, even though they seem to have no problem whatsoever doing it to us. Wants us to confirm our theory with some facts. See if the detective drives a blue car, and if Lacey Wells can identify him. Rigsby doesn't seem thrilled with the work, but we all get up to do it anyways.

At least confirming what colour of car he drives won't take too long. Yup. There it is. Blue.

xxxxx

Detective Presciado was a charming as ever when I took the boys with me to go pick him up. Always good to have some back-up when you're going on an errand like this. And given Presciado's attitude earlier I guessed he'd be a bit less of a jerk to the boys than say Van Pelt. Man what I wouldn't give to punch that smug smile off his face. But I'm going to be the bigger person here, because it's pretty clear he's not going to (despite the fact that he might be a full foot taller than me). At least Blakely's still pretty calm. Fairly hostile, but still calm. Not like Cho, but no one is.

When we tell him we can place him with the victim Presciado decides to come quietly. I really hope there's a simple explanation for this. Really hope. Arresting cops is never fun. At least I've got Jane to tell me if he's lying.

"Hey." Jane greets us cheerfully as he comes in the interrogation room.

Presciado seems a little put off by Jane. Course he doesn't realize Jane's taking his pulse, but it's still pretty funny.

I decide to ignore his questions about my consultant and get right to it. "How well do you know Patrice Maddigan?"

"Let's not screw around here." Presciado asked. "Just tell me what you have. Cop to cop."

I decide to do it, even if I'm not sure I'd get the same treatment if our positions were reversed. "Cop to cop? We know you were giving her money. We know she got off of a meth bust last Christmas. Evidence was lost right? From the Davis P.D. lockup?"

"Happens," he told me.

"We figure you took it."

"That's what you figure."

"Yes, and we could dig in and prove it, but I don't want to spend any time doing that. I'd rather just talk straight with you. Avoid dragging other good cops into this mess right?" I figure at this point the only way he gives me anything is if I threaten to make a big stink back at the Davis P.D. headquarters.

"Go on…" he tells me. But at least this line of questioning is getting through to him. Hopefully he decides to just tell us what happened.

"We figure you and Patrice were having a sexual relationship."

Detective Presciado seems to find that funny, and oddly enough so does Jane.

"She was, she was a confidential informant."

Yeah nice try buddy. "We considered that, but then she'd be on file right? And you would have put in for the money as a CI expense, but you didn't do that did you? Why? My guess, because you're an honest man." You're a jerk, but I'm not sure you're dirty.

"Yeah, sure. Okay. I was banging her. So what?"

"Did you know she was also in a relationship with your missing witness?"

"We had a business relationship. I paid her for sex. I didn't know or care what she did when I wasn't there."

"You paid her a lot of money. A lot. Good looking man like you, there had to be more to it than that." I ignored the look Jane shot me there. It's true, unfortunately handsome and arrogant often go hand in hand. Surely he understands _that. _Besides, he should be concentrating on Presciado. We need to know if this guy's lying, because I think he might be. "Did she have something on you?"

"Well she was punctual and clean, didn't say much. I liked that in a woman."

I ignored that as well. "Did you know your man Joe Purcell was the father of her child?"

"No."

"A lowlife junkie dealer with your woman. How'd that make you feel?"

"Couldn't care less," he told me. I don't buy it. Not if you were really sleeping with her.

"Do you ah, want the rest of my sandwich?" Jane asked him suddenly. "I can't finish it."

"What?" Presciado asked, clearly surprised by the rapid change of subject. You think that's bad? Try living my life buddy. You wouldn't last a day.

"It's a good sandwich. Try it," Jane pressed him.

"What is wrong with him?" Presciado demanded.

Oh nothing, he's just taking your pulse for me. "Where were you at 12:45am Monday morning?"

"I was at my partner's. We watched the game. I was too drunk to drive so I slept on the couch." Now that I actually believe.

"At Blakely's, just you and him?" I'd love another witness, one who wouldn't back you if you claimed the sky was purple.

"And his wife." That'll work.

"D'you have your weapon on you?"

"Yes I do," Presciado admitted reluctantly.

"Mind if we borrow it for a while, have ballistics take a look at it?" When he didn't answer right away I continued, "Look, I don't want to have to make this official, talk to a judge or anything. Once we do that the cat's out of the bag for good. If you're clean on this, here's the way to prove it."

He sighed and handed over his gun, and I let Jane take his pulse one more time (to his extreme annoyance) before we left.

"Well?" I asked Jane once we were in the hallway.

But Jane of course is incapable of answering a question directly. Instead he led with a statement that could only have been designed to needle me. "Oh it's just funny what bad liars cops are. I guess they're not used to concealing themselves under questioning."

Oh, I beg to differ my friend. "I'm a cop and I lie to you all the time. You never catch it."

"Well sorry to burst your bubble but you're translucent my dear. I always know when you're lying. Sometimes I let you think you fool me just so you don't feel bad."

"Name one time." I challenge him.

"Last Thanksgiving you said you were going back east to your brother's house, but I knew you were actually planning on having three days at home alone to watch old movies and eat ice cream."

"Okay. So that's one time." How could he possibly have known that? Idiot probably has a key to my office somehow and goes through all my stuff. Damn him over there, looking all superior. "What about Presciado?" I asked him quickly to change the subject.

"His stressed pulse rate was thready, dishonest."

"Thready?" I asked him.

"Hard to describe pulses. A dishonest pulse feels different to an indignant pulse. In this case he was signaling deception from first to last. There's something off about his whole story. Where we going?" He asked suddenly.

"To the zoo. They have new tiger cubs."

"Oh. Liar."

I just laughed. "Very good. I'm gonna go and speak with Blakely."

"Blakely's not going to tell you anything." Thanks Jane, for explaining to me how relationships between cops work.

"Nah, Blakely's old school. He'll back his partner to the moon, but his wife might be less steadfast. I'll keep the husband in the office while you go and talk to the wife."

Jane seemed to wholeheartedly approve of my plan. Probably because it requires a bit of sneakiness.

xxxxx

Unfortunately I couldn't quite keep Blakely in the office quite long enough. He's no fool, and he figured out something was going on. Luckily I followed him home, just in time to see Jane get punched in the face. "You okay?" I asked him as I ran after Blakely.

"Assault! Assault!" He cried.

"I would re-think this new technique of yours." I told him. This was what, the second time he'd gotten punched in the face in two months?

"I can't disagree."

Great, now I get to go tell Detective Blakely we need to speak to _him_ back at the office. Davis P.D.'s really gonna _love _us.

Actually, so's my boss. Just once, I would like a case that's relatively simple. Just once.

So Patrice wasn't having an affair with Presciado. Looks like there was something going on between her and Blakely though. I did not see that one coming at the start of this case. Not that Detective Blakely will tell us anything useful of course. Why would he? He's in up to his neck from what I can see, and he's dragged his family with him. But his son, Sam Blakely, on the other hand might be able to help us out a bit… Now there's an idea…

xxxxx

It's been quite the case. I've been working behind the scenes a bit. I feel like I've been watching security footage for about two days straight now. Looks like it's finally going to come in handy though. I hope this plan works. If we get anything short of confession Davis P.D.'ll have our heads. Lisbon tells Blakely's son about the motel's security footage. At 12:40am we show him Patrice driving in, followed by another man. "We know who it is," I tell Sam Blakely. "A thug that works for Rick Karis named Q-tip."

Jane feeds him the rest of the story, that Q-tip claims someone else killed Karis but Karis will get his man to tell us who the real murder is in exchange for his freedom. Blakely doesn't believe it of course, but Lisbon tells him that Karis has set up a meeting with Q-tip and that we want to grab him until we get the real story.

"So, um, what do you need me for exactly?" Sam asks.

"If this is gonna work I can't have a bunch of angry Davis P.D. swarming over Karis and his crew, and the CBI is kind of unpopular with you guys right now."

"Yes you are."

"So, we were hoping you'd have a quiet word with your chief. Let him know what we're up to."

"Well, knowing the chief he's gonna want to know the details. When and where you gonna be meeting this Q-tip, and what personnel you got operating undercover."

"Sure. But this needs to stay close between you and the chief. We don't want to spook Karis."

Blakely seemed to agree, but we'll see. Poor kid. I almost hope Jane's wrong about how this went down.

Rigsby and I were waiting in one car. He was eating of course. I wonder what he'd do if I stole his food? This constant snacking can't be healthy for him. Cho was in the other, _quieter_ car. Course, that probably meant that he didn't have anyone to play hangman and tic-tac-toe with to pass the time. Lisbon called in the information like we planned. Now we get to see if Sam falls for our trap. And there he is, holding a gun pointed at our planted car.

"Blakely drop the gun!" I yell.

Poor kid. Looks like he did kill them.

xxxxx

So Sam Blakely shot Joe Purcell and Patrice Maddigan after he followed her to the motel, hoping to catch her with his father, because he thought she they were having an affair. When he got there, Purcell freaked out and pulled a gun. But Blakely shot first, killing both of them. And the worst part of this case, Patrice _wasn't_ his father's mistress. She was his illegitimate daughter, just like Jane suspected. And just like that, an entire family's lives are ruined. And things could have been ended up so differently, if only Blakely had told his wife about his daughter.

Jane thinks giving the Blakely's their almost granddaughter will help. I'm not sure. As a woman would you be so ready to take that child? I mean, sure, she has no one else, and it's certainly not her fault… but would you really want the reminder of the day your entire life was basically destroyed?

I don't know if I would.

I hate this case. It's too depressing. They were all of them good people. Not perfect, but good. At least all I have left to do is finish filling out the reports then it'll be done.

And hope Jane is right about this. Hope the elder Blakelys do decide to take care of Kaylee.

Maybe I'll just spend this evening watching old movies and eating ice cream. And figuring out how to lie to Jane.

Suddenly I'm distracted by the sound of an e-mail in my in-box.

"Apparently there actually _are_ new tiger cubs at the London zoo. I attached photos just in case just in case it's too far for a day trip. –Jane

P.S. I think they'll keep the kid."

I grin. I can't help it.


	10. Flame Red

Alright, so I know there was another huge delay. But I promise I haven't forgotten about this story. It's just going to be slow. That said, I'd forgotten how much I loved some of the early episodes like this one. It's really important character-wise (in my opinion at least). I'm kind of looking forward to writing the next chapter as well (it's the one with Jane's former psychic I think).

Anyways, here we go. I still own nothing.

Episode 9: Flame Red

When I walked into the office that morning Cho and Jane were already there. I could see that Cho was working while Jane appeared to be taking a nap. Despite the fact that Jane's eyes were closed and he looked asleep he greeted me the second I stepped in the doorway, "Morning Van Pelt," he said.

"Morning guys." I said to both of them. Cho looked up and nodded in response before going back to what he was doing, so I turned my attention back to Jane. How had he known it was me? I hadn't had a chance to walk towards my desk. I could see him being able to tell the difference between me and Rigsby by the sound of our footsteps, but surely there wasn't much of a difference between my walk and Lisbon's. And there was always the chance I could have been someone completely different, someone totally unexpected. "How'd you know it was me?" I asked Jane curiously.

Jane grinned and opened his eyes. "How do you think?" he asked me.

Sometimes I think that man is incapable of giving a straight answer. "Well, you always insist that you're not psychic..." I started, knowing it would irritate him.

"Nope, not psychic," he paused, "though if you like I could read your mind."

Cho snorted at that and I shot him a grin. "If you're not psychic than how will you read my mind?" I asked Jane curiously.

"It's easy. Anyone can do it. Let me show you." And getting up from the couch quickly he walked over to my desk. He stood on the opposite side facing me, "Now Grace, I need you to concentrate. Can you do that for me?"

His grin was charming and innocent, but I'd been working with him for a while now, and that look wasn't nearly as disarming as it might have been a month ago. I nodded and Jane grinned, and started _reading my mind_, "Alright Grace, I need you to picture a screen between the two of us..." I watched in amusement as Jane made me think of a pair of shapes and mentally transfer them to his brain. I picked the first two shapes that came to mind and, feeling slightly ridiculous, sent 'em on over to Jane.

Jane's grin grew when I'd finished. "Alright," he told me. "Are your shapes a triangle inside a circle?" he asked.

I couldn't believe it. "How'd you do that?" I asked shocked. Even if it was a trick it was still an impressive one.

Jane's grin just grew, which I didn't think was even possible. "Now Grace," he told me, "that would be telling.

Before I could question him further Rigsby walked in. He looked at Jane and I staring at each other, and glancing between us asked, "Uh..., guys, what's going on?"

I turned to him with a smile, "Jane was just reading my mind."

"No way!" Rigsby said. He turned to Jane, "I thought you said there were no such thing as psychics!"

"There aren't," Jane told him. "But I can still read your mind."

"That doesn't even make any sense man." Rigsby told him.

"Why don't you let me try?" Jane asked him.

So I watched in amusement as Jane went through the whole thing a second time with Rigsby. Of course he got it right.

"How'd you do that man?" Rigsby asked him, looking impressed. I had to admit, it was a good trick, even if it seemed to just consist of getting people to think of a triangle inside a circle.

"Secret." Jane told him quickly. "Wish I could tell you really, but you know how it is."

Rigsby and I looked at each other. "Of course," the other Agent told him sarcastically, "Wouldn't want you to lose your psychic-magician-cred now would we?"

Jane grinned in response. "Nope." Then his grin widened, "Hey, who wants to bet I can get Lisbon?"

I looked at Rigsby and we both grinned. Oh this was going to be funny.

xxxxx

"Knock, knock." Jane said in my doorway by way of greeting.

"Morning Jane." I told him.

"Good morning Lisbon. Got a minute?" he asked.

I looked up then, but he certainly didn't look like something was wrong, so I decided to just go with it, "Sure, what's going on?" I asked him.

"Not in here," he told me.

"What?" I asked, half confused, half amused.

He just grinned and gestured for me to follow him out into the bullpen. It was a slow morning so I figured I could spare him a few minutes. "Alright, what is it?" I asked when we got into the other room. I couldn't help noticing that that Rigsby and Van Pelt were looking at me expectantly.

"Bet I can read your mind." Jane told me.

I snorted. "What? Jane, you called me out here to try and read my mind?"

"Yup." He told me amiably. "And I think you should just let me. Come on Lisbon, it's not like you're really busy, and you know it'll be faster if you just go along with it. It'll only take a couple of minutes and then you can get back to work."

I rolled my eyes, but figured he was probably right. If I said no he'd just keep pestering me until I gave in anyways. "Alright fine," I told him. "What do I need to do?"

Jane's smile widened. "Just relax, and face me. Good, now look at my eyes." I had to admit, there were worse ways to spend your morning than facing a smiling Jane. "Are you ready?" he asked me.

"Yes." I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing, but I was ready.

"Feeling awake? Mentally alert?" he checked.

"Yes."

"Fantastic." If anything his smile widened then. "Okay, I want you to imagine a screen between you and I. On that screen I want you to project a basic shape, like a square but not a square. Got it?"

"Okay." Well that didn't seem to hard. Just think of a shape Teresa. Triangle. Good.

"Lock it in. Now I want you to project another shape and put that shape around the shape you already have."

I paused as I tried to think of something, something that would actually go around a triangle. Circle. That'd work. "Okay."

"Excellent." Jane told me. Apparently an overly positive attitude and making odd finger gestures between the two of us speeds up the psychic connection. "Now here's the fun part. Now concentrate, and project that onto the back of my mind. Look right here," Jane said, gesturing to his forehead. "Open up your mind and send it to me. Okay, now I'm starting to feel it. It's a triangle inside a circle."

What? Well that was ridiculous. Well no way was I giving in that easily. Time to have a bit of fun of my own; "Nope," I told him cheerfully.

"It's not?" He sounded confused and disappointed. Hee!

"Nope. I was thinking of an octagon inside a rectangle." I told him, pleased that I could think of another pair of shapes so quickly.

Jane actually looked put out for a second and a bit uncertain before deciding to call me on it. "Liar."

I couldn't resist smirking. "Alright," I told him with a smile. "Alright, you got me."

"Pretty good huh?" Van Pelt asked, clearly amused by the whole situation, not that I blamed her in the slightest. "He got me and Rigsby the same way."

"How did you do that?" I asked, even though I knew he probably wouldn't answer.

"Oh that's nothing," Jane told me airily (and irritatingly). "That's just a calibration key to real mind reading. Now I have access to all your innermost thoughts."

"Yeah right." I'll buy that you can come up with some trick that gets people to think of two basic shapes, but I won't buy that you can read my mind.

"I'm serious."

Sure you are. It's a good thing you're kidding otherwise I'd be in real trouble. "Okay, so what am I thinking right now?"

"You're thinking I am so glad Jane is joking around and he can't actually read my mind."

"No..." Okay even I knew that didn't sound convincing, so may as well own up to it. "Well, actually, yes." Oh crap, the way that sounds he'd better not get the wrong idea, "But... but not for the reason you think!" I added quickly.

"What reason do I think?" he asked calmly. Damn him and his ability to always remain perfectly calm whenever you don't want him to.

"Never you mind." I told him. Damn, damn, damn. I could feel my face getting hot. No way does Mr. Hyper-Observant not notice. He's been staring directly into my eyes for the last two minutes now! I couldn't help glancing away.

Oddly enough it was _Rigsby_ who decided to point out the fact first as he walked by me. "You're blushing," the younger agent told me.

"You are blushing." Jane agreed. And then the idiot had the nerve to laugh at me, after I decided to give into one of his stupid little games. Why do I encourage him? Why? It always seems harmless, all look into my eyes and concentrate, but noooo...... Luckily I was saved by Cho, the only one of my Agents not drawn into this silly game of Jane's.

"We're up." He told me, handing me a case file. I was almost glad of the murder. Body was found, looked like arson, locals wanted us to check it out since they didn't have the resources or the experience. I shooed my team out the door, but I couldn't help noticing that Jane still had that amused grin on his face. Man I wish I knew a way to wipe that thing off of there.

xxxxx

Wow. I've got to say, that was definitely the most flustered I've ever seen my boss. I mean, I figured out pretty quickly that Lisbon isn't necessarily as stern as she appears to be. She's reserved yes, but she's still got a sense of humour. Still, she doesn't often let it show when Jane gets to her. In fact, she seemed to make an art of _not_ showing it. I'm kind of surprised she even let him read her mind at all... I wonder what he said to convince her. She'd never admit it of course, but she does seem to let him get away with an awful lot.

Not that I think she shouldn't take part in Jane's little games. I mean, Lisbon loosening up a bit could be kind of fun. I never even thought of lying to Jane and trying to convince him he hadn't been able to read my mind. Of course, I also don't seem to have some sort of little unofficial (and as far as I can tell one-sided) competition going on with the crazy consultant. But Lisbon really doesn't like to give an inch, which is probably partly how she got where she is.

Still, she did seem to be enjoying herself during the mind-reading. I wonder exactly what she was afraid Jane might have thought she was thinking...

xxxxx

Body was found in the burnt wreckage of a garage in the middle of a cornfield. The whole area was obviously suffering from drought, perfect for either a freak accidental fire or a psychotic arsonist. I hoped Rigsby could get to the bottom of things while I let Jane speak to Chief Piller. Until the Chief thought Jane was the arson specialist that is. "Ah, no." Jane told the man. "Our arson specialist..."

"That would be Agent Rigsby." I told the Chief, emphasizing my position as head of the team. "Mr. Jane is a consultant."

Rigsby started to explain to the Chief how he would be able to tell if the fire was arson or not. Of course, by the time he'd finished speaking he'd made up his mind. "It's arson alright, and murder."

"How can you tell?" Van Pelt asked.

"This was part of the garage door." He told her, holding it up.

"Yes." She agreed.

"The lock's on the outside. Someone locked Garcia in, lit the place up. Your friend was murdered. I'm sorry."

Locking someone into a garage and setting it on fire. In what appears to be a fairly close-knit small town where everyone knows everyone else. Lovely.

"Don't they usually like to watch their work, arsonists?" Cho asked Rigsby.

"Yeah," he confirmed, "even more so when it's coupled with murder."

"Maybe this guy's different. What do you think? Jane? JANE?" Oh crap, where did he go? He'd better not have decided to play impromptu corn maze out here because now is _not_ the time! "JANE!" He's like an inquisitive three-year old. I should get a harness.

"Over here!" I turned and saw the arms of the scarecrow moving. "He watched from up here! He was here!" I grinned, if he were closer I'd be sorely tempted to make a joke about asking the wizard for a brain, but at least we had one question answered though.

As it was I needed to talk to Rigsby about the description of the bomb. Say what you will about his eating habits, the man knew his fires and it came in handy. He seemed to think it was pretty sophisticated stuff. Whoever our murderer was, he knew what it was doing. Which should at least narrow down the suspect pool I guess. Cho was less optimistic. "So we have a pro at work, or a very gifted amateur. Great." I sent Rigsby and Van Pelt to interview a witness, and called Jane in off his tractor to talk to the widow. God he was a child.

I sat down to ask the widow the standard questions while Jane wandered off. I let him. I knew if he found something important he'd call me, I'd gotten used to hearing "LISBON!" bellowed from the other side of a building. The widow hadn't said anything out of the ordinary when Jane came back. Shortly after his arrival we were interrupted by Tommy, obviously a local who had some sort of mental disability. His arrival was only noteworthy because it caused the daughter to lash out at her mother.

Jane of course had something to say about that, "You know why she's so angry?" he asked the poor, grieving woman. "She suspects that your lover is responsible for the killing her father."

I think it was a testament to how far we'd come that I didn't immediately hit him for that statement. First of all it wasn't worth it, he'd do it again anyways, and second of all... he was probably right. Widow sure wasn't pleased of course.

"My lover? How dare you?" she asked.

"The policeman." Jane clarified for her.

"Chief Piller?" I asked and Jane nodded.

"Yup."

"Maddie suspects no such thing!" Mrs. Garcia claimed.

"Well that wasn't very convincing." Jane told her. "You want to try that again with a little more feeling?"

"You just cannot come in here and make wild accusations like this," Mrs. Garcia told us.

Of course within minutes Jane had explained why it _wasn't_ a wild accusation and gotten the woman to confess to the affair. He didn't seem to think she was involved in her husband's murder though, which was always nice. It's always depressing when so-called grieving family members turn out to be killers for one reason or another. What was less clear was whether or not her lover, also her husband's best friend the lovely police chief, was in on it. Mrs. Garcia claimed no, but Jane seemed less certain.

I had a feeling this was going to be a bit of a messy case.

xxxxx

On Lisbon's orders Rigsby and I were trying to get the local mechanic to tell us what he knew, although he wasn't exactly being _forthcoming_. Do people not realize not cooperating just makes them look guilty?

"Come on, help us out Mr. Reese," Rigsby coaxed. "You might have been the last person to see Rich Garcia alive."

Reese looked up from the car he was working on in contempt, "How 'bout that?"

I tried a different approach. "What's the problem?" I asked. "Electrics shot I bet."

"Yeah," the guy said quickly.

"Always the same with the early 70s models huh?" I learned in high school that car-guys tended to respond to a woman who knew her way around an engine. A bit sexist maybe, but it tended to work so I couldn't complain.

"Yep." Reese told us. "Gotta get the pig running smooth for the old parade. That's what Rich and I were talking about the night he died."

"Did you notice anyone else around? Anyone waiting nearby for him?" I didn't get an answer so I continued on. "What time did he leave?"

"It was kinda late, around ten maybe. You thinking this was murder, someone cooked him deliberate?" the mechanic asked. It was a bit of a stupid question. Would we really be investigating this thoroughly if we thought the whole thing was an accident?

"Yes, looks like." Rigsby told the other man.

"That's weird."

"Why weird?" Rigsby asked for clarification.

"Another man killed by arson in the same town, from the same guard unit. That's weird."

"Hang on," Rigsby asked quickly, "another man?"

"Didn't Chief Piller tell you? Three years ago, a guy called David Martin. Burnt to a crisp."

"And he was with the 192nd as well?" I double-checked.

"Yup. That's what I heard anyhow. It was before my time, only been in town a year. David Martin lived up at Alden's grove. I'm surprised Chief Piller didn't mention him."

Suddenly my phone rang. It seemed there was another fire, this one at Chief Piller's house. Rigsby and I ran to the car and got there at the same time as Lisbon and Jane. We could see the smoke pouring out of the building, and no one seemed to be sure if the Chief was still inside. Suddenly we noticed movement at the window, and before anyone else could do anything Rigsby rushed in.

I heard Lisbon and Cho calling his name from behind me, and I couldn't help rushing forward a few steps myself as I called his name. What was he doing? Being an arson specialist didn't make him a fireman! He could be killed! Suddenly a table came flying through the front window followed by Rigsby himself, carrying the chief out to the front lawn before collapsing in a coughing fit. Oh God he was on fire!

"Don't move! Don't move!" I told him, as I took off my jacket and used it to put out the flames on his arm. I told him he'd be alright, because I was sure he would be. He had to be.

xxxxx

Rigsby was going to be fine. That's what the paramedics had said when looked at him at least. Said they'd take him to the hospital to get his arm looked at. Van Pelt was going to meet him there. I decided to take care of getting a hotel room that he could rest in for the day and letting Minnelli know what happened. Jane insisted on tagging along.

Not that I needed it, Rigsby was going to be fine! He'd better not have gone and gotten himself seriously injured or done permanent damage or something or I'd kill him myself. When I saw him run into that building I froze, terrified. I know agents die in the line of duty, but I've never lost someone on my team, and that's not a record I want to break. I know he saved a man's life, but we aren't trained to rush into burning buildings! What if the house had collapsed?

Jane turned to me as he hung up his phone, disrupting my thoughts, "Van Pelt says they're done at the hospital. Rigbsy's going to be fine. Apparently they wrapped up his arm, gave him a couple of painkillers, and recommended plenty of rest."

I nodded, relieved. "Fine. Good." I said as I pulled into a nearby variety store.

"What're we doing here?" Jane asked.

"It's Rigsby," I told him. "He's going to want snacks."

Jane smiled, "Of course. It wasn't your fault Lisbon. There was nothing you could have done. He was the one who decided to run headlong into a burning building."

"I know it wasn't my fault!" I shot back. "Doesn't mean I wasn't worried. Besides, he's on my team, he's my responsibility."

"Still, don't beat yourself up," Jane advised.

"I'm_ not_ beating myself up!" I snapped back as I rummaged through one of the store's drink coolers. "I just want to make sure he feels better."

Jane just sighed and said, "They have the strawberry stuff he likes over there."

"I know, but he likes the mango stuff better." I told my consultant absently. "Here it is," I said, finally finding what I was looking for. "Come on. Let's go check in with the invalid. And we better get a straw, that'll proaably be easier for him to handle."

"Alright, come on Mother Lisbon, check-out's this way." Jane teased.

"He ran into a burning building without any protection Jane." I said quietly.

"I know," Jane said quietly, placing his hand on the small of my back and leading me towards the counter. I assumed he meant it as some form of comfort so I decided to allow the contact.

Besides, I was still a bit shaken up. One of_ my_ boys hadjust risked his own life being a hero.

xxxxx

"I'm just going to lift your arm okay?" I told Rigsby quietly. "The doctor said we have to change the dressing pretty often at first."

"How's Chief Piller?" he asked me. Figures he'd be concerned about the other guy. I have to admit, running into a burning building was pretty heroic.

But it still wasn't good news, "The burn unit in Sacramento said it's touch and go"

Lisbon and Jane walked in obviously carrying snacks and Rigsby perked up. Obviously he couldn't be that badly hurt.

"Hey, check out Dr. Van Pelt." He told them as I ignored him and continued wrapping up his arm.

"Here," Lisbon said to him, ignoring his comment as she handed him a drink, "It's that mango crap you like."

"How you feeling?" Jane asked.

"Took some kick-ass painkillers man," Rigsby told the consultant cheerfully. "I guess this lets Piller out as a suspect."

"Yup, especially as the doctors at the burn unit found tranquilizers in his system. He told them he woke up and found smoke and fire all around him." Lisbon told him by way of confirmation.

"Interesting new level of cruelty," Jane added, "dousing someone so they wake up just in time to burn alive." I had to agree. Anyone who did that didn't just want their victim dead, they wanted them to suffer.

Cho walked in then, "Hey, it's the Mummy. So the fire at Pillar's house, same MO as the one that killed Rich Garcia. Accelerant's ethel ether. That's a signature. Tricky to work with, takes skill, finesse."

"Why don't you go see what Susan Garcia has to say about all this?" Lisbon told him.

"Okay," Cho said before heading out on his assignment.

Lisbon turned to Jane next, "And let's you and me check out this Alden's Grove place where Dave Martin died."

As the rest of the team turned to leave Rigsby seemed to catch up with the conversation. "Oh, the Mummy!" Rigsby said with a laugh. "I get it, bandages."

Lisbon turned back to me, "And no more painkillers for him."

No kidding.

I had a feeling it was going to be a long afternoon.

xxxxx

As Jane and I approached Tommy's trailer Cho called and updated me about what he'd heard about the ownership of the land. Apparently Alden's Grove was the property of three former National Guard members who'd bought it for a friend, one Dave Martin. I told him to go pick up Van Pelt and sent the pair of them to speak to Muchado, the only remaining partner in the venture who hadn't been targeted. When I hung up the phone I realized that Tommy had seen us from the window of his trailer and was coming out to greet Jane and I. He invited us into his trailer immediately. He'd known the victim, but I wasn't sure he'd have much other information. He just seemed to live on the land as a sort of perpetual caretaker.

And then Jane found Tommy's little oasis. Turned out Alden's grove was on top of a natural aquafir. Worth millions in the middle of a drought. Well that was interesting.

xxxxx

I was in the middle of research when Rigsby interrupted. "Van Pelt?"

"Yes?" I asked.

He continued on as if I hadn't spoken. "Grace. That's a lovely name. Graceful."

"Ahhhh...." Oh crap. This wasn't good. For one I was pretty sure whatever Rigsby was about to say was against regulations, and secondly he was right out of his gourd thanks to all the pain medication.

"I've been wanting to say something to you for ages now." Oh this was _not_ good. "I think now's a good time,"

I DON'T! Oh dear, what do I do now? What would Lisbon do?

"Cause I nearly died. I love you Grace."

Well... I wasn't expecting him to just up and say _that_. I mean, I like you Rigsby, I really like you, I mean, maybe if we had different jobs... But I love you? I can't deal with this right now. And I probably shouldn't even be listening. No way he'd say it if he was in his right mind. So I did the only mature thing, I put my hands over my ears and started to hum.

"That's right, I love you." The humming seemed to jar him out of his train of thought and unfortunately wasn't drowning out his voice, "Are you okay?"

Ummm... well, that's debatable. "Yes." I told him.

"Why are you making that noise?" Rigsby asked innocently.

Oh, no reason, a colleague just declared his love for me while high on painkillers. I took a breath, "It's not that I don't like you, I do, it's just... We work together, and there are rules. And if we were to get together, one of us would have to leave the unit, and I'm junior agent so that would be me, and this job is so important to me." I was cut off by the sound of snoring. He was asleep? Really? I was insulted! Then I realized it meant he might not remember the whole thing, which would really be best for everyone.

Luckily Cho arrived to distract me from my thoughts. "Hey. You want to go to work or you want to play nurse for King Tut?"

"Work. Definitely work." Nursing just got a whole lot more complicated.

Although work is no picnic either when a routine visit ends up with gunfire. Muchado claims he didn't know we were cops, but that became much harder to believe when we found the accelerant used to start the fires in his barn.

xxxxx

Jane and I watched as Cho and Rigsby interviewed Muchado. He wasn't telling them anything useful, other than denying he was the arsonist and the murderer. I watched in interest as Jane walked in and suggested that Dave Martin might still be alive, and might be targeting his three former business partners out of revenge for trying to kill him for the rights to the aquafir on Alten's Grove.

My interest changed to horror when, immediately after suggesting Muchado might be a murder target, Jane continued with, "Well, let this creep go, we don't have anything on him." With that Jane walked out of the interrogation room. What had I told him about that? I was going to kill him! I was the one in charge of the unit in case he hadn't noticed.

I caught up to him in the hall. "Two notes here. We already have plenty on him, one, armed assault on Cho and Van Pelt and two, a barn full of fire accelerant."

"The assault was self-defence and the accelerant was a plant." Jane replied easily. Then he paused, surprised, "Only two?"

I had to admit, he had a point there. "Actually, no. Where do you get off giving orders in the first place? I say who goes and who stays, not you."

"Uh, that's fiery but calm, very good. Why don't you try it with a more forceful hand gesture?" "Like," Jane pointed to himself and raised his voice, "I say who goes and who stays," then he pointed a finger in my face, "not you!"

He responds by critiquing my _delivery_ when I give him orders? He thinks this is a game? There are rules! "I'm serious." I told him, and I knew I sounded it to.

"So am I." Jane told me. "If he's in here how's the killer going to get to him?"

What the hell kind of logic was that? "He could _be_ the killer and even if he's not we don't want the killer to get him!" Don't know if he's noticed, but here at the CBI we try to stop people from getting killed, not the other way around.

"Yes we do. Muchado is our bait, he's our tethered goat."

"And too bad if the bait gets killed?" Yeah because that's acceptable. I'd love to explain that to Minelli, or have that on my conscience.

Jane on the other hand was unconcerned with such scruples, "Well yes, that's why you use goats and not babies or virgins for that matter."

"Muchado's not a goat," I told him as I walked into my office. I was sick of his nonsense.

"Well you're right, he's not actually a goat. He's goat-ish. He deserves to suffer a little."

"Nobody deserves murder." I told him.

"Muchado helped burn Dave Martin alive out of greed."

And even if that was true, it wasn't up to us to decide his punishment. "Jane, we're _officers of the law_."

"You are. I don't care about the law; I care about justice. And justice says Muchado deserves to suffer."

Was he serious? Good lord, I think he was. "That's not justice; it's _vengeance_!"

"What's the difference?" Jane asked, apparently genuinely confused.

Again Cho prevented me from answering Jane's question as he poked his head in my office. "What do you want us to do with Muchado boss?"

"Let him go," I told Cho, but glancing at Jane.

"Really?" my senior agent asked. "Let him go let him go?"

"Really, like that." I confirmed.

"Okay." Cho seemed sceptical, but I knew he'd do it.

Jane was grinning, the idiot. "Trying some reverse psychology?" He still thought this was a game? That this job, _my job_, was a game? What did he think would happen if no one did it? There were rules for a reason. And I had to follow them.

"You talk tough. Maybe it's time you learn that there's consequences. If Muchado gets hurt it's on you." Which was all well and good for me to say, but in the end I knew that was a load of crap. Whatever happened in this case, it was on _me. _Just like it always was.

"Fine with me." Jane made it as far as the door before he turned back. "We've never discussed this because I thought it went without saying, but when I catch Red John I'm going to cut him open and watch him die slowly, like he did with my wife and child. Now if you have a problem with that we should talk."

I felt like I'd been hit in the head with a two-by-four but I tried not to let it show. "Then let's talk. Because when _we_ catch Red John, we are going to take him into custody and he's going to be tried in a court of law." No way am I going to let you use an investigation as a way of furthering your quest for vengeance.

"Not if I'm still breathing." Jane told me calmly. I don't think I'd ever seen him this serious, it was creepy as hell.

Still, I kept my cool and made my position as clear as possible. "If you try and do violence to him I will try and stop you. If you succeed in doing violence to him I will arrest you."

"I understand." Jane told me with a grin.

"I hope so." I really do. And why are you smiling? Stop that!

"Well, I'm glad we talked. I had no idea you were so bourgeois and conventional on the issue."

He was smiling now, but he hadn't been earlier. That was honestly one of the more disturbing conversations I've ever had with someone who _wasn't_ a criminal. Serves me right for wishing I could see Jane without the stupid grin on his face. I can't think about this right now. I'll worry about it later. Right now I'd better get Rigsby and Cho on stakeout. Muchado might be our tethered goat, but that doesn't mean I can't keep a couple of shepherds watching, just in case.

Of course not half an hour later I got a call saying they were leaving to go talk to the mechanic. Even if it is a viable lead, does _nobody_ do what I ask them to anymore? Did that interview have to happen right this minute? Unsurprisingly I got a second call from Cho about fifteen minutes later saying the mechanic was a dead end. Muchado's house better not be on fire when they get back is all I can say. Jane's there, and as far as I know he doesn't have anything planned, but let's face it, that doesn't really mean much.

xxxxx

Jane and I were again watching Cho interrogate a suspect from the other side of the glass. I've got to say finding Tommy at the crime scene covered in accelerant was a bit of a surprise. I watched Cho in the interrogation. "It doesn't make sense," I told Jane. "All the evidence says it's him. There was ethel ether traces all over him, _but_ the arsonist used an electronic timer and rocket fuel and Tommy's wearing Velcro sneakers. Call him challenged, retarded, whatever you want, there's no way he's capable of this."

"What if he had a partner?" Rigsby asked me.

Well, that made more sense at least. "Maybe that's it. Somebody's manipulating him, someone he trusts."

"Give me a moment with him" Jane asked.

I nodded as he walked into interrogation. I could only watch in shock as Jane conned Tommy, (or Thomas I guess) into revealing who he really was, and what he was really capable of using a copy of Moby Dick he'd read. Even though Tommy was apparently a fool, he was also an act. Thomas was a cold-blooded killer fully in control of his faculties.

After revealing that Tommy was an act Jane handed Thomas his book back. "I confess, I never really did get to the end of it. Ahab does die doesn't he?"

"Yes," our killer confirmed. "But so does the whale."

Jane seemed to agree. "That's my point, revenge doesn't come cheap."

But Thomas would have none of it, "Oh spare me your moralizing. I _know_ what revenge costs. It's worth the price. David Martin had many flaws, no doubt, but he was my friend, _my friend. _ Those animals, they deserve what they got. It was justice."

And then Jane got his full confession. Laid out in full. "It was redemptive." Thomas told him. "You wouldn't understand." I could feel the chill go up my spine. Oh god, this was the last thing I needed, another lunatic fuelling Jane's drive for vengeance with crazy-talk. And Thomas wanted us to apologize to the man's daughter for killing her father. Well, that'd be fun. Although I had to talk to the widow anyways, so I may as well take Jane along.

xxxxx

Needless to say the girl didn't take it well. Jane tried to talk her out of her anger towards her father's killer when she threatened vengeance of her own. "Revenge is a poison. Revenge is for fools and for madmen." Huh, well, that sounded promising at least.

"I don't care," the girl claimed.

"Yes you do." And before we left he made mother and daughter hug each other, hopefully starting the road to healing, before he hurried me out the door. Okay, so occasionally the lunatic could be thoughtful.

"_So?_" I asked him.

"So."

"Seems like this whole thing changed your mind about vengeance." I told him with a ghost of a smile.

"It has?" he asked me.

I quoted his earlier words back to him. "Revenge is for fools and madmen?"

"Yeah, it was rather good I thought." Of course. "Total nonsense, but quite good nonetheless." I guess I had until the next Red John case to change his mind, either that or make sure he was never alone. "Shall we?

I nodded and we ran through the rain to the SUV.

xxxxx


	11. Red Brick and Ivy

So this chapter was interesting to write. Not a whole lot of Van Pelt in this episode. It's really all Lisbon and Jane. I'd forgotten how irritating I found Sophie Miller until I re-watched this. Hopefully it's accurate. Thanks to everyone still reading this and taking the time to review. I appreciate it. I still own nothing.

Chapter 11 – Episode 10 – Red Brick and Ivy

It was a slow day. I was sitting in her office catching up on some paperwork when Jane walked in quickly after knocking on my door. "Hey."

"Hey." I said, responding in kind.

"If someone was murdered on the campus of a state university it's ours isn't it?" he asked me.

Well, technically _yes_, but without good reason the CBI usually doesn't interfere unless we need to. "Can be if we muscle of the locals," I told him. "Why do you ask?"

"I need a favour." He said.

_Jane_ is asking me for a favour? Well this is new. I mean, sure I do things for him all the time, but that's usually after he's conned me into them or because he's ticked off someone and needs to be protected. Jane actually _asking_ is new. And I admit I'm intrigued. I put down my papers and gave him my full attention. "What kind of a favour?"

"An old friend that _I _owe a favour might be in a spot of trouble, I want you to take over the case." I started to say something but he cut me off. "Relax Lisbon, I'm not asking you to tamper with evidence or anything, just make things are handled _well_. Don't ask."

That was even more interesting. Jane was asking me for a _personal _favour? For someone from his past? Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious. And let's face it, I'd probably do the same for any member of my team if they asked. "Alright," I said with a shrug. "I won't ask. Just let me make a couple of calls." I told him.

He grinned and thanked me before ducking back out of my office. I _really _hoped this didn't end in disaster.

xxxxx

That might have been wishful thinking on my part. From what I'd heard so far about this case things sure didn't look good for Jane's... friend. I'm not sure exactly what Sophie Miller is, or rather was, to him, but whatever it is I somehow doubt she was ever _just_ a friend. At the moment my consultant and I are watching one of the local cops interview the woman, one Dr. Sophie Miller. The officer sure seems to think she's guilty, not that I blame him given the evidence against her. "Sophie, Alex's water bottle contained a ten percent solution of hydrogen cyanide. What do you know about that?" he asked.

"I know that hydrogen cyanide is a legal poison, beyond that nothing at all. Please, call me Ms. Miller or Dr. Miller or ma'am, not Sophie if you don't mind." Well, she was calm and collected I'll give her that. Obviously very smart, maybe even smart enough to deal with Jane on a regular basis.

Her interrogator was less than impressed with her attitude. "You're not setting the boundaries here. You were seen by several witnesses arguing with the victim shortly before his death." I glanced a Jane at that. That was never a good sign. She'd better have a good explanation. "You fled the scene immediately after his death," the man continued.

"A cunning plan eh?" Dr. Miller as she wanted to be called seemed almost amused by the accusation. Gotta say, not really the best attitude for getting on the police's good side, _especially _if you're innocent. I have a feeling this woman's going to be a bit of a pain.

The officer didn't even bother to dignify her comment with a response, just continued on with his line of questioning. "Since your divorce from the victim two years ago. You've been arrested for assaulting him twice and made several death threats against him. He obtained a restraining order against you."

"And I obtained one against him also."

"Oh, well that's alright then."

"Didn't bother you that Alex remarried? That he found happiness with another woman" A passionate, violent past with the man, and he just remarried? Hell, she'd be at the top of my suspect list too. She'd be at the top of _anyone's_ suspect list. I glanced at Jane again, who was watching Dr. Miller intensely. Maybe not quite anyone's list... I really hope she didn't do it or this is going to get messy, really messy.

"Alex and I got past our personal history. We had to for the sake of our work together."

Something about this woman was rubbing me the wrong way. Her whole attitude towards her interrogation was irritating, an odd mix of entitlement and arrogance. She didn't even seem upset that her ex-husband had just been killed basically right in front of her. And she was treating the officer's perfectly reasonable questions like they were absurd. She had to know she was the obvious suspect; her first reaction had been to call Jane to help her out of her predicament. I turned my attention back to the officer's questions, "Ah yes, your work together at the Stutzer institute right? Which gave you ready access to the hydrogen cyanide," the officer pointed out.

"You know, I had thought that being innocent that I don't need a lawyer, but I can see that you have some animus against me so I'll say nothing more until I have a lawyer present." Well, the second half that was the first sensible thing she's said all day given her history with the deceased and ready access to the poison. Jane was looking at me intently.

I had to ask, "What if we take this case and it turns out she's guilty."

But he dismissed that possibility. "She didn't do it," he told me confidently.

"How do you know?" I asked. How long has it been since you saw this woman? Can you honestly be _that _sure?

Apparently Jane was just _that _sure, or, like his old friend, just that arrogant. "Because she told me she didn't. She wouldn't lie to me." I scoffed internally at that. No, because no one ever lies to the great Patrick Jane.

"Why not?" I asked him reasonably.

"Because she wouldn't." Oh, great reason. Really convincing argument there.

"Suppose she did." I told him indulgently. See if you can find it in you to consider that possibility.

Jane finally decided to acknowledge that the good doctor_ might_ be involved. "Well if she is guilty then we need to catch her and punish her, but she's not."

Oh for crying out loud. Ten minutes in and I'm already wishing I hadn't agreed to this. "Jane I know I said I wouldn't ask, but I'm asking. Who is this woman? What's the connection?"

"You don't want to know," he told me with a slight grin.

Maybe not, but I have a feeling that sooner or later I'm going to need to, because I've remembered about an hour too late that Jane attracts chaos at every turn.

xxxxx

The local cop interviewing Sophie clearly didn't appreciate us honing in on his case, and I can't say I blame him. "She'll talk, she just needs time," he told me.

"To do what?" Jane asked. Oh for Pete's sake! Has there ever been a case where Jane didn't immediately get off on the wrong foot with the local law enforcement officials?

"Hey." I chastised him quietly. That wasn't the way to get on this guy's good side. Not that we need to be, I can claim jurisdiction whether he likes it or not, but it never hurts. So I decided to be diplomatic, "I'm not saying she isn't good for it, but we don't have enough solid evidence to support that right now." There that was tactful and has the added benefit of being true.

"I disagree." I mentally sighed. So much for diplomacy.

"That's your right, but the CBI's lead agency on this." I ignored Jane's frantic gestures towards me. Although I admit I was a bit flattered he was so confident that I could just walk in there and take over a case. He'd better not make this a habit though.

Not that my fellow officer was going to give up that easily. "Yes," he said to me. "Strange though that a Department of Justice unit like CBI's lead agency 'cause Sophie Miller called the DOJ switchboard this morning. Why it's almost like she, chose her own investigators."

Because the idiot had called on her cell phone and they had her phone records. Great. Now this looks shady. Luckily for Jane (and for me at this point) in this case jurisdiction was clear, "Leland is a state university. We automatically offer our services when local agencies aren't equipped. If Sophie Miller called the DOJ it's a coincidence." Well the second half of that is a flat out lie. Stupid consultant so owes me for this one.

Luckily, or unluckily I guess depending on your perspective, another officer interrupted us to bring out attention to posters that had been put up all over Leland's campus overnight by something called the Animal Equality League. The posters claimed that Alex Nelson's death was justice for his years of cruelty to animals. At least it took some of the focus off of Sophie, sorry _Dr. Miller_, and the fact that she'd called Jane earlier that morning. Still, _my_ boss was _not _going to like this development. 'Course he'd probably like it even less if he knew I'd gotten us all into this mess as a favour to Jane. If I got through the day without a headache it'd be a miracle.

xxxxx

Almost immediately after we got back to the CBI, Leland's Chancellor, Chancellor Stern dropped by to talk to Minnelli. And I'd been so hoping for a chance to break the details of our new case to him gently. Chancellor Stern pompously demanded security for Leland's assets and that the case be handled quickly and efficiently. Adding him to animal rights angle, I knew Minnelli was going to be annoyed. Why couldn't Jane have an old friend who got themselves in the middle of less controversial case? Oh yeah, because it's Jane.

My boss' advice, "You better close this one quick Lisbon." Yeah, no kidding. Because if I don't this'll look really, _really_ bad for the CBI, not to mention for me personally.

And I _still_ have no idea why I'm even doing it.

"Hey, thanks for not telling him I made you take the case." Jane told me as he stuck his head in my office.

I had my back turned towards him when he walked in and I didn't turn to face him when he spoke. I _really _didn't want to talk to him right now. What possible good would telling Minnelli have done? He was already angry enough; no point in telling him his loose-cannon of a consultant was involved. And I was angry at myself for jumping right in without insisting on details. I mean sure, you do that sometimes for a colleague, when you trust them. This is Jane, intrigue and disaster follow him around. Damn my curiosity about this man's past.

This irritating, irritating man who was not going away. "Lisbon?" he tried again. "Helloooo..."

Seriously? _Seriously?_ "Tell me the truth," I demanded. I've had enough of his games. If he couldn't at least give me five minutes to figure out how to proceed then he was damn well going to tell me why I was involved in the first place.

But unsurprisingly Jane didn't seem to realize the severity of the situation he'd just gotten us all in. "Truth, ah, Darth Vader, Luke's father."

I slammed my filing cabinet drawer. That was _it_. "Seriously? I've stuck my stupid neck out for you for the umpteenth time. I think I deserve the truth."

Jane actually looked nervous, and maybe a little guilty. Oh God. _Jane _looked unsettled. Maybe he was right; maybe I didn't want to know.

But I was in it now. I watched as he quietly shut the door to my office before asking, "Why is Sophie Miller so important to you?"

"She was my doctor," he told me.

I was confused. "She's a psychiatrist."

Jane acknowledged that fact. "Yes, she was my psychiatrist."

Okay. Not that that clears up all the questions of course. "But you hate psychiatrists, so you always say."

"She was a good psychiatrist," he said, as if that explained everything, his voice still conveying nothing to me.

"She must have been if she managed to keep you in the room." I told him. I couldn't imagine Jane willingly submitting to psychiatry. Wonder what her secret had been... Maybe I should get some tips...

Jane abruptly put an end to _that _particular idea. "It was a locked room," he told me.

Oh my god. Oh hell. "Oh." I didn't know what else to say. What was there to say? I didn't want to bring back _those_ memories. The woman's presence alone was probably hard enough on the man. I was beginning to understand.

"Yeah, I went through a rough patch. I did a little time in a hospital and Sophie helped me through that time."

"It's not on your record." Stick to the facts Teresa. Do not get emotional. Don't show pity. He'll resent you.

"No, I... Believe me, it's not easy to do." I watched as Jane paused and swallowed, searching for words. "I know there's nothing shameful about having a breakdown, but I've gotta confess, I am ashamed of it."

I nodded, finally understanding both his attitude and he wanted to help this woman. "Thank you for being so honest with me." I told him.

"Sorry I kept it from you," and I think he meant it. It was always hard to tell with Jane. You never knew when he was being genuine. But this conversation was one of the few times I was sure of. I almost felt bad for bringing it up, but I did need to know. I appreciated his honesty. That couldn't have been easy for him.

We held each other's gazes for a moment before I heard a knock on the door. Van Pelt opened it and seemed to recognize she was interrupting something. I shifted my gaze from Jane to her, "Ah, shall I come back later?" she asked.

"No." I told her, and with a final glance at Jane I left the office, giving him a few moments to compose himself. There was nothing I could say to make him feel better anyways. Nothing other than solving the case, while hoping that Sophie Miller wasn't guilty.

xxxxx

This looked like it was going to be a messy case. I'd heard stories about how animal rights cases could get even if I hadn't ever worked one myself. I wasn't sure why we were even working this one. I mean, I know we technically had jurisdiction, but we certainly didn't take over the investigation of every murder committed on a university campus. I asked Cho but he just sighed, and then after a slight pause told me it might be better not to ask.

I was curious, but decided to follow his advice. After all the only ones to ask would be Lisbon or Jane. Lisbon was in a bad mood from the Chancellor's earlier visit and Jane, well, Jane had been acting strangely all day.

So I'd just gone to work as usual doing research with the rest of the team. We didn't have much yet; Rigsby was still looking at security tapes and Cho figured the type of water bottle the poison had been added to was so readily available on campus it was probably a dead end. Still I thought it was probably worth updating the boss on what I'd found out about the Animal Equality League's past violent acts.

I noticed her door was closed, which in and of itself was a bit odd. Usually she left it half open. I knocked and waited a moment before opening it. As soon as I did I wished I hadn't. Jane and Lisbon were staring at each other, obviously in the middle of... _something_."Ah, shall I come back later?" I asked Lisbon when she acknowledged my presence.

But she said no, and followed me back out into the bullpen. We updated her on what we had, which admittedly wasn't much. She just nodded and told us she was taking Jane to interview our victim's boss, one Dr. Stutzer.

With that she retrieved the consultant from her office and the pair of them left together. Despite Cho's advice I couldn't help wondering what exactly it was that I'd walked in on. Whatever Lisbon claimed, I _had _clearly been interrupting something. Rigsby had mentioned something earlier about suspecting Jane knew someone involved in the case. That would explain things. But who did he know? And why had Lisbon been so willing to jump in and take over the case for him?

Just what was going on with those two?

xxxxx

I took Jane with me to go interview Stutzer. I figured his read on the man would be informative, and I knew that there was no way I'd be able to keep him away.

The interview was interesting to say the least. We were shown to Dr. Stutzer's office by his teaching assistant Kerry Sheehan, who I had to say, was the first person who seemed genuinely upset that Alex Nelson was dead.

Stutzer himself was also upset of course, though I couldn't tell if he'd miss Alex Nelson for himself or for his research abilities. Then the man had started talking about his research program and it was all I could do to keep my expression neutral. I mean, he claimed to be curing evil and banishing the devil! Instead of being impressed all I was reminded of was a bunch of bad science-fiction movies.

Jane seemed equally sceptical, and had the advantage of being able to show it without being reprimanded. Luckily Stutzer seemed to be amused by Jane's attitude, and decided to give us a tour of the lab to prove his research was valuable. He showed us Suzie, one of the chimpanzees they'd been experimenting on. Apparently they'd been able to recalibrate her to be less violent.

I asked Stutzer if he was aware of the threats to his person, but he just brushed them off as part of a scientist's lot. I tried to convince him he might be in danger, but he refused to be careful. He'd even bought a gun for protection and decided to keep it in his office. Somehow I couldn't picture him using it, but whatever. I couldn't force him to be careful. That was pretty much the end of our visit. After a quick look in at the preliminary human trials they were conducting (prompted again by Jane's scepticism) we left, leaving Dr. Stutzer to his precious research.

I know the whole situation was serious, and that we had to take the threats against Stutzer seriously, but as we left his office I was fighting the urge to laugh. The man had just been so ridiculous. The stereotypical scientist in his ivory tower. And Jane had just been too terrible mocking the man's research. He may have gotten me into this mess but at least he was entertaining now that we were in it.

"Forget about the animal equality league," Jane told me as we left. "_We_ should firebomb the place. Guy's going to put us out of a job."

I wasn't worried. "I can't see it. Human beings are more than just electrical appliances." No way can Stutzer and his colleagues make a person good or evil just by flipping a switch in our brains.

Speaking of Dr. Stutzer's colleagues, Sophie Miller herself walked up. "Patrick," she called to Jane. Jane looked over at her startled. I was intrigued that his initial reaction to seeing her again wasn't pleasure. But then I realized, even if she had helped him through his... troubles, he probably didn't appreciate the reminder of what she represented.

"Dr. Miller, Sophie." He sounded unsure as he greeted her. Since I usually only ever see the supremely confident Patrick Jane I had to admit seeing this side of him was somewhat unexpected. Dr. Miller either didn't notice his hesitation or decided to ignore it. She barely even glanced at me before turning all her attention back to Jane, who had overcome his initial hesitation and was now smiling back at her. I couldn't resist giving her a quick once-over. Just what had their relationship entailed? I'm no expert, but the way she's looking at him... well, doesn't really seem like he was _just_ another patient.

Jane made a quick introduction, "Ah, this is Agent Lisbon."

I smiled and held out my hand, determined to be friendly regardless of any suspicions I might have. "Hello." Dr. Miller smiled and shook my hand but didn't say anything. Lovely. "I'm gonna wait in the car." I told Jane. His companion clearly didn't want me around and I can't say that I was all that eager to be in her company for very long.

"Alright," he said.

I wandered slowly back to our standard-issue CBI vehicle curious almost in spite of myself. Just what had gone on between the two of them? Stop it Teresa. She was his psychiatrist. She helped him through a nervous breakdown. Of course they're close, of course he feels beholden. Just because you don't like her doesn't mean there's anything sinister going on here. They're just two people who haven't seen each other in a while catching up. Still, Jane _is_ acting strangely...

xxxxx

"Hey Van Pelt," I heard Rigsby call me from across the bullpen. "I think I've got something."

"Yeah?" I said as I walked over. "What is it?"

"White van pulling away from our crime scene. I can get a partial plate and a sticker in the window. I'm trying to get a better view of it now, should have a better view in a minute."

Well that sounded promising. Better than anything I'd found so far on the Animal Equality Leage. "I'll do a search. Just give me the details."

"Okay, give me a second." Rigsby told me.

I was glad that Rigsby seemed to have forgotten about what happened a few weeks ago during the arson case. Let's face it, things are less awkward all around when your colleague forgets all about that time he confessed his love for you after taking a bunch of really strong painkillers. I mean, it was definitely flattering, and very sweet, but nothing could ever happen, so it's better this way. Besides, as things stand, we actually work pretty well together most of the time.

Like right now. Oh Bingo. "I think I found something." I told Rigsby. "Better get Cho."

"Sweet," he said as he rose to fetch Lisbon's second in command.

Our search had turned up a potential location for the Animal Equality League's base of operations. Cho thought it was a good lead, and after getting Lisbon's approval we decided to get SWAT and go in. So it was all a bit anticlimactic when it turned out the only person in the warehouse was an overweight guy surrounded by some electronic equipment and a bunch of cats.

I don't think any one of us really thought he was guilty as soon as we saw him. Of course this fact was only confirmed by watching Cho attempt to interrogate the guy. Our suspect was obviously out of touch with reality. Cho was clearly resisting the urge to put his head in his hands. I was watching the interrogation from my desk when Rigsby sat down next to me.

"He's crazy." I told him.

"Yeah, well, crazy don't make him innocent," Rigsby pointed out. "Crazy's what makes people kill other people"

I turned my attention back to Cho, "How did you kill Nelson?" he asked our suspect.

"Poison," the man told him immediately.

"What kind of poison did you use?" Cho asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Crazy guy asked, clearly having no idea what kind of trouble he was in.

"I do know." Cho stated calmly. "I'm wondering if you do." Clearly Cho thought this whole thing was a waste of time as well.

But the "head" of the Animal Equality League ignored that. "Do you realize that the real rulers of this planet are insects?" he asked. Cho glanced back at Rigsby and me, his expression incredulous.

"Okay," I said, turning to Rigsby. "Crazy innocent. Probably."

Rigsby sighed and picked up the phone to call Lisbon. So much for our prime suspect.

xxxxx

I got Rigsby's call about the truth behind our supposedly violent animal rights activists. It sounded like it was going nowhere, but I figured we'd better hold him until forensics was finished, and maybe let mental health have a go at him. I hung up the phone and turned to Jane. "Looks like the animal rights angle's a dead end."

Jane made some sort of non-committal sound to that, so I pressed on. "Back to square one."

"Grieving widow?" He asked.

"That's always a good place to start." I told him. I decided going back to Sophie Miller so quickly was a bad idea, at least until we had more information. Because unfortunately unless something else jumped out, sooner or later we were going to have to.

So we went to talk to the widow, who almost as soon as we arrived got a call about flower arrangements for the funeral. The whole idea of planning a funeral seemed more than the poor woman could handle. She hung up after a few minutes minute. "I'm sorry. Death is so complicated. I'm expected to answer all these questions about everything."

I decided to be gentle, figured anything else and she'd just break down. Besides, she hardly looked like the type to commit murder. "Mrs. Nelson I just..."

But Mrs. Nelson interrupted me quickly, "Please call me Emily. I never really got the hang of being called Nelson. Can we sit? I was just getting the hang of being a newlywed and now I'm a widow."

I tried again, "Did you have any sense that there was anything wrong in any aspect of Alex's life?"

But Emily didn't seem to have any useful information. "No, I don't think so. I mean, work had been really hard lately I know that."

While we were speaking Jane had been wandering around looking at photos. He approached us holding one, "Is that you?"

Although Emily seemed surprised by the question, she answered in the affirmative. Jane just complimented the photo and moved on so I turned her attention back to my questions, "Why was work so hard?"

"I don't know. When Alex would talk about his work I couldn't understand a word and he just stopped trying after a while." Wow. That's... wow. They've been married less than a year and he's already given up explaining what he does to her? Sounds like a real prince. But Emily obviously didn't have a problem with it. She didn't even pause in her answer, "But he had an argument on the phone a few weeks ago. Alex went into his office and I could hear him shouting he was so angry. He never shouts."

"Any idea who he was shouting at?" I asked her, not expecting much.

But here she surprised me, "It was a woman. Rosie I think he called her."

"Rosie. You know anybody named Rosie?" I asked.

"No."

"Did you ever ask him about the phone call?"

"I did. He said it was a work thing." And you don't talk about his work. Well wasn't that convenient.

Jane jumped in then, "And you believed him."

"Yeah," Emily said. The trust in her voice was almost tragic given what I knew Jane would likely ask next.

And he didn't disappoint, "You didn't suspect that there was another woman involved."

"No." The poor woman sounded devastated by the suggestion. I hoped her faith was justified, but given what I knew about the man I wasn't holding out much hope.

Jane had the grace to look apologetic, "Sorry, I have to ask such things. You have a beautiful house. Beautiful. Did you do the decorating?"

"No, it's all Alex. He was teaching me. He had an aesthetic." And some control issues.

We were interrupted by the phone ringing again. The sound seemed to distress the widow more. "It keeps doing that every five minutes. What am I gonna do?"

I reached out a hand in comfort but Jane walks over and took her hands with his. "When this funeral stuff is done with and Alex is buried, I want you to go someplace beautiful. Just get on a plane. Don't tell anyone where you're going, just go. Fly away and start building a new life for yourself," he told her

"Okay," she told him.

Jane wasn't done though, "But you promise me you will fight hard against your weakness for control freaks."

"Okay," the widow agreed. So much for not listening to people who wanted to control you I thought. Even if Jane's intentions were good her ready agreement did not bode well for her figuring out how to deal with that particular flaw.

But Jane was satisfied. "Good, good." He told Emily, placing one hand on her shoulder.

After we left Jane offered his opinion on the widow's guilt. "She couldn't kill anyone unless they told her to in a firm voice."

I had to agree. "That was funny." I put on a fake deep voice, "Don't listen to control freaks." Then I raised the pitch of my voice, "Whatever you say sir."

But Jane ignored that. "Let's go see Stutzer's assistant," he suggested.

"Kerry Sheehan?" I asked. "What you think she's the mysterious Rosie?"

"The widow's not a true blond. She's naturally dark," Jane told me.

"And what?" So she dyes her hair. What does that have to do with anything?

"And her hair is coloured and styled to look like Sophie only younger, who was a brunette when I knew her," Jane told me.

Well that was... creepy. "So Alex Nelson was a control freak like you said."

"A control freak with a serious thing for getting his women to dye their hair blond," he clarified.

"Kerry Sheehan has roots," I said, realizing what he was getting at. On its own it might have been a coincidence, but given how upset she'd been about Alex's death, well, it made sense.

"Yes she does." Jane told me.

"She and Alex Nelson were having an affair," I concluded.

"Bravo."

Oh shut up Jane. I hit him in the chest, "Don't patronize me." Just because I don't have your creepy abilities doesn't mean I'm a moron.

Unfortunately even Jane had figured it out too late. Kerry Sheehan had already killed herself. Or so it appeared. I wasn't convinced. And this investigation stayed open until I said we were closing it.

xxxxx

Poor girl, killing herself like that out of guilt. I know we didn't have any proof that she'd killed Alex Nelson, but it sure looked like she had. I found a photo of them together at the crime scene. They were definitely having an affair. Even if she hadn't killed him, killing herself after her lover's death...it was tragic.

Despite what it looked like Lisbon was less sure that it was a suicide.

"The note's too brief for a woman," she explained when we were back at the CBI. "Women like to explain themselves. I think it's a staged suicide."

"Perhaps she was too ashamed of what she'd done to talk of it," Jane suggested.

"She had enough pills to kill herself ten times over." I told the boss.

"Hoarding pills is characteristic of the suicidal type," Rigsby pointed out.

"Yes, but why would she kill herself with hydrogen cyanide? With terrible pain, when she'd collected enough pills that would let her slip away gently," I asked him. I could see Lisbon's point. Something just didn't fit.

"Well maybe she wanted the pain" Jane suggested. "She needed the pain to punish herself for killing her lover." Okay, that made sense if she was the killer. Still didn't explain why the suicide note was so short. And Lisbon was right, women did tend to write longer suicide notes.

"You really want this case to be over don't you?" Lisbon asked him, her tone challenging.

"Don't you?" he countered.

But Lisbon stuck to her guns. "Actually, no. I want to find out the truth. And if Carrie didn't kill herself then..."

"The widow had a motive." Cho interrupted.

But Lisbon dismissed that suggestion, "Yeah, but not the temperament. There's no way she's a killer. That leaves one obvious suspect." She nodded and faced off against Jane. I really didn't want to get in the middle of whatever was going on between them this week. Not again. Once was enough for me. And since Jane apparently knew Sophie Miller, this could get ugly. I wouldn't want to be in Lisbon's position.

"Oh," he said with a mirthless laugh. "Sophie."

Lisbon pointed out that she was the obvious choice. "Look at her record; she and Alex were violently obsessed with each other. Maybe they were still secretly involved. Maybe she was jealous of Carrie." Jane looked away then upset. I felt badly for him, but the boss was right. Sophie was the obvious suspect.

"Yeah, but why kill Carrie and leave Emily unharmed?" Cho asked.

"And how did she even know Carrie was sleeping with Alex?" Rigsby put in. Okay, those were good questions. Still, she was still our best suspect if Carrie's suicide really was staged.

"Let's go ask her." Jane said abruptly. The three of us watched in silence as he left and Lisbon followed. Without saying anything we all got up and went back to work. It's times like these that I'm really glad I don't have Lisbon's job.

xxxxx

"Let's keep it casual this time with Sophie," Jane told me as we left the briefing. "Let her relax. If she gets her guard up we'll get nothing from her."

"You're very combative all of a sudden." I said innocently, like I hadn't provoked him back there. After all, he needed to accept that his former psychiatrist might just be guilty.

"Yeah, well if she is guilty she lied to me and I believed it." He told me in an irritated tone. "She fooled me."

"The ultimate sin," I couldn't help commenting.

"Yes it is." Ha. Talk about controlling men. Jane can't even stand the idea of another person fooling him. Sophie Miller certainly knows how to pick the winners.

xxxxx

And so Jane and I were back at the university watching Dr. Miller and another tech conduct clinical trials. Jane seemed fascinated by the ability to calibrate people to be villains or saints as he called them. I'm still sceptical of the whole thing. Somehow I don't think it could possibly be that easy. Before I knew it Jane was demanding to have a go on the machine. Dr. Miller seemed amused and entertained by his obvious interest. But I thought we were getting off-track so I interrupted. "Dr. Miller."

"Yes?" She asked, turning to me for the first time since we'd arrived.

I decided to start off slowly, "I assume you've heard about Kerry Sheehan's death."

"Yes, it's tragic," she told me, though she didn't sound particularly upset. "Do you think that she killed Alex?"

"Is there somewhere that we could talk in private?" I asked her.

"Sounds so ominous," she told me condescendingly. Oh, I really wish I could smack this woman. She's just so smug and superior all the time.

But, luckily in this case I have the upper hand. I faked a friendlier tone, "We could do it downtown with lawyers present, but I thought it would be more congenial to talk here." On the other hand if you _want_ me to take you down to the station I'd be only too happy to oblige, whether Jane likes it or not.

"You're right, and I'm happy to talk to you, because I understand you're just trying to do your job." This woman is Jane's former psychiatrist. She's important to him. She means something. No matter how snide or rude she is to you, unless she's actually a killer she's probably not worth the hassle that would come if you gave her the smackdown she's just _asking_ for. Be calm Teresa.

Wordlessly Dr. Miller led us back to Dr. Stutzer's office. He'd left for the night so we'd have some privacy.

I started our little _chat_, "We were wondering, did you know Carrie and Alex were having an affair?"

"Well, I knew she was having an affair with a married man because she told me. I didn't know it was Alex, I didn't put it together," Dr. Miller answered.

So she had known about an affair, even it wasn't specific. Except something didn't make sense. For all she was a psychiatrist the woman sitting across from me didn't exactly look like the type that another woman would confide in about something like that. "She told you that? You were close then?"

"No, not really," Dr. Miller said casually. Really, I wasn't sure that I'd seen the woman display any genuine emotion since we met, other than when she was grinning inanely at Jane of course.

"She had to have known you were Alex's ex? Why would she talk to you of all people?" I asked her.

Dr. Miller looked amused and glanced at Jane, like my question was one of the stupider things she'd ever heard. Do not smack her Teresa. You'll just have to fill out a mountain of paperwork if you do. "I don't know," Dr. Miller told me.

Jane interrupted us then, "You're a psychiatrist, give it a shot."

She looked annoyed at his suggestion, like she'd expected him to defend her, to go along with everyone she said. I couldn't help the momentary feeling of satisfaction when she realized that Jane was still technically on my team, , "My guess, that she was a silly little girl who liked the secret drama of it all and the safety of the rules would prevent me from slapping her senseless if I found out."

I figured Dr. Miller wouldn't be the type of person to take something like that, but a slap seemed a bit much, especially since he'd re-married. "Why would you slap her for that, you didn't care about Alex anymore?" I asked her innocently.

"I cared nothing at all for him, but I don't like being played with," she told me. And yet, you still get along with Jane. I wondered how well she actually knew my consultant. If she really didn't like being played with I couldn't imagine them getting along for too long. Jane played with people all the time. Couldn't help it... Unless she'd never realized what he was doing... Oh, that would explain so very much... his unease, her attitude towards him...

Shaking myself out of my thoughts I cut to the chase, "Were you still involved in a physical relationship with him?"

"No." She glanced at Jane again. I wasn't sure if she was interested in his reaction to that, or worried about what he might think.

"Who's Rosie?" I heard the chimpanzee in the background, but I focused on Dr. Miller.

"Rosie, I can't say that I know anybody with that name," but I didn't believe her.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yes. Why? Was that Alex's other woman?"

"Emily heard Alex arguing with a woman she thought was called Rosie," I told her.

Jane interrupted our conversation again. "Lisbon, would you leave us alone for a moment?"

I didn't really want to, but I figured it might be for the best. I had no idea what was between the pair of them, but I knew I didn't want to be in the middle. Besides, I figured I owed Jane this. And he'd probably have better luck getting the woman to talk than I would. "No problem." I got up to leave.

"Thank-you." Jane said as he turned back to his former psychiatrist.

xxxxx

Cho, Rigsby and I were still back at the CBI, but as far as I knew no one had found much.

"So how do you think Jane knows Sophie Miller?" Rigsby asked suddenly, interrupting the silence.

"Old girlfriend?" I suggested. I know Cho told me not to get into it, but I couldn't help being curious. "I mean it's obvious they were close at some point."

"Yeah," Rigsby agreed. "And it would explain why he was reluctant to take her call at first."

"But," I reasoned, "That probably means he knew her before his wife because, well, I can't see Jane..."

"Yeah, I know." Rigsby said. "So maybe not old girlfriend, unless they haven't seen each other in a while."

"Still, he obviously knows her pretty well," I said.

"Or he thinks he does," Cho pointed out, joining the conversation for the first time. I hadn't really thought about the distinction, but he was right.

"Hey!" Rigsby said excited, "Maybe he knows her from his fake-psychic days!"

That was an interesting idea, "You're thinking ex-client?" I asked.

"It's possible." Rigsby pointed out.

"Yeah, but she hardly seems like the type." I told him. "I mean a psychiatrist who sees a psychic? That doesn't seem likely. She seems too sceptical for that."

"Maybe..." Rigsby admitted, somewhat dejected. "Still, you never know..."

Cho seemed to disagree, "Do you guys really think that Jane, or Lisbon for that matter, would got to this much trouble for someone who was just an ex-client?" he asked.

He was right, but if she wasn't a client, then who was she, because Cho was implying they were rather close, but he didn't seem to think the association as all that positive, or all that innocent. "What are you saying?" I asked him.

"I'm saying that it's Jane, and so it's probably not a great idea to speculate. Who knows what he's gotten up to in the past," Cho told us, as he left the room.

Rigsby and I glanced at each other. "He's right you know," I told him.

"Yeah," Rigsby said with a sigh. Suddenly he grinned, "So you think what, _blackmailing_ ex-lover?"

I grinned back, but my answer was cut off by a phone call from Lisbon. Apparently Sophie Miller wasn't guilty, but she was willing to help us catch whoever was. The three of us were to get to Leland as quickly as possible. It seemed Jane had an idea.

xxxxxx

When Jane filled me on his private conversation with his ex-psychiatrist I couldn't believe it. Apparently Dr. Miller wasn't a murderer, but she was guilty of fraud. The Stutzer institute had been faking their findings for the past year because their stupid morality engine didn't work. Dr. Miller suspected Alex had been killed because he'd threatened to go public. Jane figured either Dr. Stutzer himself, or Chancellor Stern was the real killer. He had a plan to catch the guilty party, and the good doctor had agreed to help.

I didn't particularly like the sound of it, but Jane was adamant, so I told him if he got Minnelli on side I'd do it. Jane told me my boss had agreed. I'm not sure I believed him, but I decided to just go with it.

Jane tricked Stutzer and Stern into believing the morality engine worked but that he'd been calibrated for evil. Then he grabbed Stutzer's own gun and pretended to kill Sophie. When he threatened to kill Stutzer too unless he confessed to the murders the Chancellor came clean. My team and I were of course waiting on the other side of the door.

After getting his confession Jane stopped his act. "Sophie you can get up now. See, blood. Totally worth it. It's always those little details that sell the whole thing. That was, uh, that was great."

Chancellor Stern started backtracking as soon as he saw me, "It's all inadmissible. I said what I had to say to save myself from this lunatic with a gun." That was all true, but somehow I didn't really care right now. The case was finally over.

"She knows," Jane told the Chancellor, "but knowing the truth is important too." Then he clarified the location of the hydrogen cyanide used to poison the two victims. "Uh, top shelf left or right did you say?"

"Left," the idiot answered.

"We have agents at your house right now with a search warrant," I told him.

"Inadmissable," he claimed doggedly.

I pretended to consider that. "Yes. I'd hate to be a state's attorney. Jane's always pullin' crap like this on them, but they always win. In the mean time you're under arrest. CHO?" I called. "Would you?" My trusty second-in-command promptly began reading the Chancellor his rights.

Jane handed me the gun, "Thank-you." I rolled her eyes at him. Somehow I figured Minnelli's opinion wasn't going to be as positive.

Jane of course just looked thrilled. Stutzer less so. "The engine doesn't work?" he asked Dr. Miller. "Huh! You were pretending."

"It doesn't work," his associate confirmed.

"Pretending. To catch the Chancellor, or me I suppose. You couldn't know which." At least he didn't seem that upset.

Jane helpfully put his two cents in. "Oh, I thought it was you," he told the other man.

"Very clever. I so badly wanted to believe that it worked. Mind plays tricks huh? Well, never mind." And with that the older man just sat down at his desk.

xxxxxx

I watched Jane say goodbye to Dr. Miller from the driver's seat of the car. There definitely had been something between them at one time, something more than a traditional doctor-patient relationship, not that I knew exactly what it extended to. I couldb;t blame her entirely. Jane was very, very good at manipulation. Who knows what he was capable of? He probably hadn't had malicious intentions, but he did tend to use people for his own ends, consciously or not. Who knows what he would have done if he decided he wanted out of wherever he was? She'd been his way out. And she certainly didn't have the best track record with personal relationships. I sighed, even if she had helped him when he needed it, I hoped this was the last time I had to deal with the good Dr. Miller.

I watched as Jane kissed her on the cheek and walked towards me. I changed my expression from serious to amused. "Awww. Jane kissed a girl."

He looked a little discomfited at that, "Well yes. Yeah, on the cheek."

"Still counts," I told him.

"Counts as what?" he asked me.

"Nothing, just saying." I said, trying to play it off.

He got into the car. He was too serious. Maybe the teasing hadn't been a good idea. "You wanna drive?" I asked him.

Jane turned to me then, interested. "That's a very sweet offer. Do I really seem so sad?"

I deflected his question. "What? I was just asking if you wanted to drive." Geez, no need to read so much into everything.

But this was Jane I was talking to. "You don't like it when I drive. You despise it."

"You drive way too fast." He did. I was always surprised that he didn't get a speeding ticket every time he got behind the wheel.

"I drive just fast enough," Jane countered. "You hate not being the one in control and yet you're willing to overcome your irrational fears to cheer me up. That's a beautiful thing Lisbon." He'd perked right up by the end of his speech. "Thank-you, I'd love to drive." He started to take off his seatbelt, but I'd have enough of his nonsense. The man couldn't just take something for what it was, had to analyze everything and make me feel silly about my answer. Well, then he could just sit there in the passenger seat.

"Never mind." I told him as I started the car. He could look as surprised as he liked. Whatever he said, this entire case had been entirely his fault.

And so strictly obeying the posted speed limit at all times, I drove my consultant back to the office for our team's traditional post-case tradition. I hope this time whoever bought the snacks had included chocolate.


End file.
